


Reaches of Reality

by HawkTooth



Series: Two Worlds Collide [3]
Category: Chronicles of Narnia (Movies), How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Crossover, F/M, Humor, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-04
Updated: 2019-07-11
Packaged: 2020-06-03 18:29:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 22
Words: 63,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19469680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HawkTooth/pseuds/HawkTooth
Summary: Book 3 of the Two Worlds Collide Series. How far does imagination stretch? How blurred are the lines between fiction and reality? Hawken, Hiccup and the gang are about to find out, when word of a new land reaches the shores of Berk. Straight out of another fantasy, this place has secrets that carry great importance, not only for the gang, but for the future of both worlds.





	1. Intriguing News

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the third book in the Two Worlds Collide Series! I began writing this one right as the third of the Narnia films came out; for some reason everyone else seems to hate it, but I rather enjoyed it, particularly when it came to Eustace and his big mishap. Thus, just because I thought it would be fun I decided, hey, what if Narnia happened to be an actual country within Hiccup's world that no one had yet really known about? Turns out since then it's become an important aspect of this series indirectly, but more on that in later books :)  
> In the meantime, don't forget: to understand all of what's going on in this book, the first two need to at least be skimmed, and to enjoy the rest to come, make sure you grasp at least the bones of what occurs here...it's still in that "yeesh, these were my early days" phase, but the tale is not complete without it.

“Almost noon!”

I looked up from where I was busy pruning dead leaves off a pot of Lamb’s Ear, and smiled slightly. I was at the nursery where I worked and, while it was almost time for most other people to take a lunch break, it was about time for me to head home. I only worked weekend morning shifts, but with recent events, it was enough.

I wrapped up the last couple of pots and put them back on the sales bench. Turning and walking inside the greenhouse, I spotted one of the nursery owners walk in. “Leaving already, Hawken?” she asked. I nodded. “Yeah, it’s just about that time. But, everything is taken care of outside.” “Well, good work,” she replied. “Though it seems a rather large number of people come here more to find you now than buy anything.” I laughed. “Well, I’m using that to my advantage: if someone wants to talk to me about anything other than what we have in stock here, they have to buy something anyway.” We both chuckled, and the owner turned away, carrying the basket of weeding tools to some unknown location. “Well, keep it up! See you next weekend!” I smiled and put a couple tools in place, before walking up to the computer and clocking out.

As I flew home, I felt rather good. Many positive changes had come in the past couple weeks. It was late July, the middle of summer, and my favorite time of year. Everything was growing well, temperatures were warm (though everyone who wasn’t a dragon was complaining), and a number of changes were being made at home. Since I tended to end up busy on this, that, or the other random adventure with Hiccup and the gang, I had been “renovating” my personal plant grow spaces at home, especially thanks to my newfound talents. Automatic timing and watering systems were going in for many plants, I had set up an easy collection system for water (and using a little bent gravity, making it easier to move it around too), and a few other things, but I won’t bore you with more details. It was nearly finished, and I just needed to install a couple new lights at some point. Luckily, my success at the nursery was helping fund my hobby, and good thing, too, as college started in a little less than a month and a half, and at that point all my funds would go there and I’d have even less time for “me” stuff.

“Hey Mom, I’m home!” I said, walking in the door and going straight to the fridge, grabbing a cold glass of water. “How was work today?” she asked. I shrugged. “Oh, same old, same old. Popularity tends to breed business if you use it right.” “Their popularity or yours?” she said teasingly. “Both,” I replied, walking up behind her as she did homework. “Whatcha working on?” She sighed. “Economics of business,” was the reply. I scrunched my face. “Eech, sounds painful.” “It is, but the class is almost over.” “Ah. Any idea what to do for lunch?”

My mom shrugged this time. “I already had salad, so you’re on your own.” I groaned, and turned toward the fridge again to find something to eat. “Oh, and before I forget, Hawken,” my mom continued, garnering my attention, “Hiccup stopped by earlier this morning looking for you. I told him you were working, but he said it was important.” I turned to face her, shutting the fridge door. “Did he say what it was?” I asked. “No, but he said as soon as you were available, you should head to the village.” She took off her reading glasses for a moment. “Sometimes I wonder just what all you’ve managed to get into over there.” I grinned. “A lot of things. But, I think I will have lunch before I go anywhere. I’m starving, and I’m sure Hiccup can wait another hour if he went back to the village instead of waiting for me here.”

After lunch (and spending a few minutes tweaking my automated systems) I headed to Berk, and found Hiccup and Toothless flying my way as I flew toward the village. Toothless backpedaled to keep from shooting past me, and I spun to slow down and face Hiccup.

“I was told you were looking for me?” I asked loudly. Hiccup nodded. “Yeah, took you long enough to get here, too. I was just about to head to your house again to find you.” “I do have my own life to take care of,” I returned. “I know,” Hiccup acknowledged, “but this is kind of important. We received some, uh, interesting news from one of the trading ships that came by, and we’re readying an exploration party because of it.” I raised an eyebrow. “What kind of news?” I asked cautiously. “I’ll tell you when we reach the village,” Hiccup replied, and turned Toothless back toward Berk.

As I landed in front of the Great Hall, Hiccup and Toothless came in behind me. I stepped through the doors to find the rest of the gang and Stoick looking at an old map and a small letter accompanying it. Stoick looked up as I walked toward the table. “Ah, Hawken! We were wonderin’ when ye’d get here.” I smiled. “Nice to know I’m so wanted around here,” I said jokingly. “So what is it you guys found?”

Astrid picked up the letter, which was written in sloppy Norse runes, so I couldn’t read it. “Some of our traders came back from dealing with some of the settlements further northwest, on the coast of Iceland, and they returned with word of a new land.”

I gave her a fisheye, before looking at the map on the table. I recognized Iceland, Greenland, and the chain of islands that made up the Barbaric Archipelago, but there was another landmass drawn in that looked completely unfamiliar. “This it?” I asked, pointing to the landmass. Only one side was drawn, the other left blank. Astrid nodded. “Is it America?” “Not if we compare their knowledge of this place to what you’ve told us,” Fishlegs said, writing something in a notebook. “They said this land has a tall mountain range on the eastern side, unclimbable and curving around the furthest northern tip. The only way over would be by flying, and that sounds nothing like the east Coast you told us about.” I frowned and raised an eyebrow again. “So our worlds aren’t quite as similar as we thought, huh?” Fishlegs just shrugged in reply.

Stoick cleared his throat, and we turned to him. “We’ve got a few people who are already going on this trip to scout out this land,” he explained, “see if it’s recognizable or not. It’s mainly you young ones here, since yer so experienced on the dragons.” He looked at me. “You would be the most knowledgeable about any new place, since our worlds seem similar enough, and you said yourself things you read tend te become truth. Would ye be able to accompany our group?”

I sighed and rubbed my forehead, thinking. “Well, things have been going alright at work, so I should be able to manage it if the trip is only a couple weeks at most, but I can only give you a solid answer sometime tomorrow.” Stoick nodded in understanding. “Very well, just get back te me when ye find out. We may definitely need ye though, as it’s not just our…” he trailed off and looked at something behind me. “What is it?” I asked, starting to turn when he smiled slightly. I found Hiccup suddenly dropping his hands and looking away innocently, like nothing had happened at all. “Uh huh,” I muttered, crossing my arms. “And just what is it you’re hiding?”

Hiccup looked up, surprised and seemingly confused. “Who, me?” he asked innocently. “Yes, you.” “Uh, nothing. Nothing at all.” I sighed and turned, waving it off. “Fine, whatever. I’m sure I’ll manage ot find out on my own sooner or later.”

I turned to Stoick again. “If I am able to to, I need to prepare a few things at home and pack up some supplies, so I will contact you tomorrow morning sometime.” He nodded. “Very well.” Then he turned toward Hiccup and the gang, and put his hands on his hips. “Well, what’re ye all waitin’ fer? You need te get packing too!” I laughed as they all scrambled to obey their chief, and then myself headed back out and toward the portal.

Since becoming half-dragon of sorts, I had, strangely, begun to acquire a stronger liking of fish, something I’d never really enjoyed before, but I still wasn’t going to rely on just scaly swimming things as food on this journey. I found one of my smaller packs, and began filling it, attaching a multi-tool and pocketknife, and various nonperishable food items: snack bars, freeze-dried dinners, and various other things. If there’s one very good thing about being an outdoorsy family, it’s that we have everything needed to survive a trip to just about wherever.

As I was preparing the pack, however, my father came home from an errand, and came downstairs to find me putting things together. “And where are you planning on going?” he asked. I turned and smiled sheepishly. “Well, I don’t know if I am yet, but I may very possibly be accompanying the teens on an exploratory mission from Berk.” “What kind, exactly?” “New land sighting kind.” My dad smirked. “What, did they find North America finally?” I shook my head. “That’s the weird part,” I began. “It’s almost where the east coast should be, but the description we got isn’t right at all.”

My dad nodded and frowned. “What about your job, though?” he asked. “I know you can fly and all, and that means any trip will be shorter, but if you’re gone for a month, that position you have now will be kind of hard to keep.” I nodded and chuckled. “And that’s why I’m not a hundred percent sure yet if I’m going. But, we’re on good terms there, I’m popular and good for business, and I’ll be taking a bunch of new plants over there later today to make up for the money I will not be making.” Dad just raised an eyebrow, and slowly nodded. “Well, as long as you think you have everything figured out. I’m not holding up your finances anymore, and do remember also you only have a month and a half before you start school again.” After stating the obvious, he headed upstairs again, likely to let my mom know what I was planning.

After the pack was full, and my weapons attached, I headed upstairs and began setting up my greenhouses in preparation for me being gone, and began labeling a tray of plants to take to the nursery. Once everything was in order, I headed back to work with the cache of plants to secure my income while I was gone.

Luckily, it wasn’t too much of a hassle for me to disappear. I had already made somewhat of a habit doing so, and due to my annoying “celebrity” status anything coming from me or vaguely connected to me was suddenly valuable and wanted, no matter what it really was. The greenhouse owners were used to me having sudden “trips” out of the blue, and had been given a vague idea of why, so we were able to set up a replacement for me while I was to be gone, and about a month’s time off just in case the trip took that long. In return, though, I did have to help clean up the storage room before I left.

Once everything was cleaned up, my plants were out for sale, and I was free to go, I headed home for the second time that day. I had time to wonder, though, just what exactly was in store for us. The vague description of the place we were headed did seem familiar somewhat, but I couldn’t quite place my finger on it. But, landing in my back yard, I shrugged it off and decided it wasn’t important for now. I had other things to focus on, like having dinner with my family and getting to Berk the next morning. But no matter what, there was that feeling in the back of my mind, something that said we would not be quite ready for what we found.


	2. Heading Out

When I reached the village in the late morning, I noticed right away something was a bit off. None of the gang could be found anywhere. Usually I could at least spot Ruff and Tuff pulling off some prank behind some poor villager’s house, but none of the teens were visible as I glided over the village. Getting a little concerned, I headed in the direction of the forge to find Gobber. He was where he was supposed to be, at least.

“Hey, Gobber, you haven’t seen Hiccup recently, have you?” I asked as I popped my head through the door. “I mean, he is your assistant after all.” He looked up from where he was fanning the bellows. “Nae fer a while actually,” he replied, turning and grabbing a bent sword and throwing it on the coals. “In fact that whole group of teens disappeared this mornin’ fer some reason, and no one seems te know where they went.” He faced me. “Though I am sure they didnae leave without ye,” he assured. I sighed and turned to leave. “Let me know then, if you happen to see any of them.” Gobber chuckled. “Will do.”

I left the forge and headed toward the forest on the opposite side of Berk. There were plenty of places they could be hiding, but I could find them quickly enough if needed. However, halfway across the village, I was suddenly forced to halt as a blast of fire scorched the road in front of me. “Hey, will you watch where you’re…” I began to yell, looking up, but trailed off as I turned and spotted the dragon curving back the way I had come. It looked extremely familiar, and one that was not from around the island: long, thin and gold. _Hold on a minute,_ I thought, peering closer, _that looks just like-_ “OOOOOOFFF!!!!”

Note to self: when suspicious things are happening, always keep an eye out in every direction.

Something leapt onto my back from behind, tackling me to the ground using my moment of surprise. When I hit the dirt, however, I regained my senses and whipped out a long tail, using it to push me off the ground and spin around, coming down hard and pinning my attacker beneath my feet and tail. Only then did I manage to get a glimpse of who it was.

“You know,” I sighed, “I’ll admit, I really should have known. You are the only person I can think of who would attempt to tackle the dragon boy, Cami.” Said blonde Bog Burglar burst out laughing, clearly not caring that she was the one on the ground now. “Oh, who cares!” she giggled. “I finally got you, fair and square! Ha ha!” I shook my head, but couldn’t help but smile in amusement as I let her up and held out my hand .She took it and righted herself, dusting off her clothes and still chuckling the whole time.

Bits of laughter came flittering out between the houses as the rest of the missing teens appeared. I locked gazes with Hiccup as he appeared from behind a grove of trees with Toothless, and they were both grinning like idiots. “I take it you were all in on this?” I asked. They nodded. “What, finally decided to try and get me back?” “Yeah, we decided it was about time you were the butt of the joke,” Astrid explained, hopping up onto Thorn, “and ever since the Thing last year, Cami’s been itching for a chance to pull a prank on you, so…” she just chuckled instead of finishing the sentence.

I glanced back at Cami. “So are you two the mysterious add-ins to our team for this exploration?” I asked. “Not the only ones,” Snotlout replied for her, jerking his thumb over his shoulder. I turned, and sure enough, one more Viking-dragon pair was walking up to the group.

“Well, well, it’s been a while hasn’t it, Thuggory?” I greeted, smiling and extending a hand. He shook it and replied, “Yeah, nearly an entire year.” “Well, good to see you again, and,” I turned to look at the dragon following him, a large, silver-hued Nightmare, “I see you brought a new friend along as well!” Thuggory nodded. “Met him this past winter. This is Silverwings.” I grinned. “Aptly named. And might I say thank you for not placing some death-related moniker on your friend, too.”

Silverwings bent his neck down and looked at me closely. <So you are the one he keeps mentioning,> he said. <Nice to finally meet you in person.> I smiled and tipped my head. “Pleasure to meet you as well.” He dipped his head in return.

“Okay, so if we’re done with all the boring talking, can we go already?” Tuffnut complained. I laughed and turned back to Hiccup. “I think he’s got a point. Are we ready to be heading off soon?” I asked. “Yeah,” Hiccup replied casually. “We should have just about everything, though the village will be wanting to see us off.” He glanced at the swords strapped to my pack. “I see you’re using the straps we made, but, uh, care to explain why you have four swords? I get the idea of a spare, but seems like a lot.” I shrugged and extended a Zippleback tail, flaring the split end. “Why not, if I can use them all? Better protection this way,” I returned. Hiccup nodded. “Point taken. And before you say it because I know you will, the point is not the one on the sword.” I snorted. “So you do know me somewhat.” “I’ve been working on it.” We all cracked up for some reason at that. Really not sure why, it wasn’t that funny.

We didn’t leave that day, since there were a few things still to be squared away at the village (Hiccup had promised to help catch Gobber up on some smith work, for one), and so that evening we sat around the fire of a watch tower and spent time retelling stories of what happened since we’d all last seen each other. Camicazi had been busy making a name for herself among the pirate ships sent from the Roman Empire, because she’d become an impossible-to-catch thief (she had kept to robbing only people who had robbed others, since she knew how I’d react), and Thuggory had been given a position on the leader’s council in his tribe. And of course, we regaled them with stories of our own adventures over the months. Our tales lasted well into the night, and eventually we all ended up falling asleep around the firepit. No one fell off the tower, though, so don’ be concerned about that.

* * *

“Okay, we’re off!” “Finally!”

A chorus of goodbyes, good-lucks, and cheers were released as the teen explorers and I lifted off, away from the docks and out over the ocean. I glanced over at Hiccup, who was positively ecstatic at the prospect of escaping the island for a time, grinning from ear to ear as he leaned forward on Toothless. We headed west, taking advantage of the thermals rising off the island and the sea stacks and gaining altitude, before pushing on over open ocean. Luckily, it was a rather clear day, and we could see for miles: glistening blue water far below, speckled with the occasional whitecap wave, puffy clouds dotting the skyscape only occasionally, and in the waters below, the occasional spout from a pod of whales or the jumping of some various creature occasionally made itself known. It was peaceful, it was serene, and it was perfect.

About an hour or so into the flight, I glided over next to Hiccup. “I’ve been meaning to ask, how has spitfire been doing?” I queried. “I didn’t see him around before we left.” Hiccup laughed. “Oh, he’s doing fine. He’s just been a bit shy. Perfectly understandable considering what he went through,” he explained. “He’ll hang around me and Toothless a lot, or disappear into the forest for a while.” I frowned. “He’s getting more social, though, right?” Hiccup nodded in affirmative. “Slowly, but yeah. He’s more apt to get to know some of the younger kids, I’ve noticed.” I smiled slightly at that, and slowly curved back over to my spot in the flight formation.

No sooner had I settled back into level flight than I suddenly felt something land square in the middle of my back. I twisted my head to look, and sighed. “Don’t you have Stormfly to bother?” I growled. Camicazi snickered. “Yeah, but I do that all the time anyway. Plus riding her doesn’t make her irritated.” I groaned. “Oh, perfect, you are just here to annoy me. Wonderful. Where did she go anyway?” Cami tapped me to get my attention, then pointed toward Hiccup and Toothless. Stormfly was over there, having a conversation with the Night Fury about who-knows-what. However, I got a clue when she began to blush a bright shade of pink.

<Stormfly, what are you doing over there?> I called over. She jerked, having been caught, and changed to an even deeper shade of pink. <Uh, what?> she sputtered, looking around confused. I glided over. <Your rider is on my back instead of yours, and you’re using that opportunity to come over here and flirt with Toothless, aren’t you?> I prodded. <There’s a time and place for things like that, and this certainly isn’t it. And I can tell Toothless isn’t your type either.> I glanced at the Night Fury and smirked. Had he not been black in color, I’m sure he would have been as pink as Stormfly at that moment, though she was now turning a deep shade of purple. <I wasn’t flirting!> <Your scales are also turning purple.>

Her mouth snapped shut, and she dropped her head as I shook my own. <Mood dragons, you are terrible liars. If you two are going to be a problem on this trip, I won’t hesitate to do something about it.>

Both of them snapped alert at that, Toothless jerking Hiccup back as they simultaneously blurted, <No! we’re fine!>

“Hey!” Hiccup snapped. “I’m up here too!” I snorted. “I don’t think there should be any more problems, Hiccup,” I assured. He harrumphed in reply. I glanced at Toothless, giving him a look. He put on a bashful look, but a sliver of thanks also appeared. I was right: he wasn’t the mood dragon’s type.

Once that was dealt with, I flipped over without warning, dropping Cami and giggling at her cry of surprise. I quickly righted myself and dove down, catching her of course, before flying over and dropping her back on Stormfly. The shell-shocked look on the Bog’s face was priceless, and I heard laughing, glancing over and spotting Astrid giggling, having watched the entire scenario from nearby. She spotted me staring, and quieted down.

* * *

By evening, we had reached the southern tip of Iceland. Upon landing, we gave a bit of a scare to the village that had sprung up there that we decided to visit, but upon my changing back to normal, there was great fanfare. Apparently, word of the dragon boy and his friends had spread rather quickly among the Norse tribes further north, and everyone was excited to meet the source of the stories in person. Needless to say, it took a while to finally get the message out that we were simply looking for a place to stay the night. Once the sun had begun to dip toward the horizon (it still never set at that latitude and time of year), we found ourselves nice and cozy in a large, one-roomed house.

Of course things never stay peaceful when you have people like the twins on a trip with you.

“Alright, breack it up already you two!” I snapped. Naturally, they either ignored me, or didn’t hear me at all. “Troll!” “Butt-elf!” “Fried Freckle-face!” “Fishbreath! Ow!” I glanced over at Barfbelch, who took the cue and swiped his tail under the squabbling pair’s feet, knocking them on their rear ends. “WHOA!”

The two glared up at their dragon, who glanced away innocently. “Are you two really going to bicker the entire trip?” I asked tiredly, bringing their attention to me. “Should we happen to run into trouble, we may need everyone’s help, and that won’t happen if we have two riders who put themselves out of commission.” Thuggory leaned forward from where he rested against Silverwings. “Plus, yu two keep this up and you’ll drive all of us nuts,” he added. Everyone chuckled, save for the twins. “That too,” I smirked.

“So, what else has anyone actually gathered about this place we’re heading to?” Thuggory queried. “What, here?” Hiccup asked. “Or the place we’re headed?” “You know what I mean,” Thuggory retorted.

Fishlegs sat up straight. “Ooh! Ooh! I heard that it’s got this massive mountain range on the eastern side,” he began, “straight up and completely impassible by land or sea.” I raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, I think we heard that already,” I replied. “Sounds like a rather inhospitable place.”

Fishlegs shrugged. “Well, you never know. The traders and explorers would’ve only brought back what they saw or heard. So far, no one’s tried really sailing around the end, so..” Hiccup nodded. “So as far as we know, it’s only passable along its length by air,” he commented. Fishlegs nodded in agreement. “Yeah, and those who have actually seen it said that up on the peaks by the north end here, there were people visible standing high up on the mountain tops.”

I snorted. “For people to be visible on mountains that high, they’d have to be giants to be recognizable.” Everyone just shrugged. “Well, maybe that’s where the Jotunns come from,” Cami suggested.

Hiccup yawned. “Maybe,” he said tiredly. “But we’ll be able to find out tomorrow, which is when we should be able to arrive there. In the meantime, I think it’s time we hit the hay.” Everyone agreed, as it was certainly late, so we all grabbed the blankets we had brought along and tucked in for the night.

I, however, found it hard to actually fall asleep. Something in the back of my mind kept on nagging at me, like this land really was all too vaguely familiar. I tried to dismiss it, thinking we had just found this world’s version of North America, but somehow, I doubted it. After a while, though, I finally managed to slip into fitful slumber.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I is back, and returning to updating this tale. Longer than the last book, but still shorter than the first, and of course far more focused on a singular tale than the "slice of life"/"multiple mini-tales series" that the first was.


	3. Destination One

~~~~Bright and early in the morning, we set out again, wasting no time, and began to glide to the southwest, gaining altitude as we did. However, as the sun rose to the highest point in the sky, even flying at 5,000 feet up it can get really, really warm.

“Ugh, can we try swimming there for a while?” Tuffnut complained. “I’m boiling, there’s steam coming off me!” Ruffnut groaned. “Oh, quit complaining butt-elf!” she snapped, trying to take a swing at him. “Grow up already!” Tuffnut was about to throw a verbal volley back at her, but caught my warning glare and wisely shut up.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I agree with Tuff,” Astrid said as she and Thorn glided past me. “It’s getting blazing hot up here.” <No kidding,> Thorn agreed, a frown plastered on her face as well. I sighed and shot ahead of the group. If even the dragons were starting to complain about the heat, it was more than time to try and cool down a little, especially as we needed to conserve our water until we found land.

I flared my wings and aimed toward the group, taking in a deep breath and, combining two dragons together, released a cloud of frozen mist into the flight path. The rest of the gang shot through it, and I followed behind, the cold crystals coating my scales and immediately dropping the temperature around me.

“Oh, that feels good!” Cami sighed. Her sentiments were soon echoed by the others, the cool-down having done its job, and lasting a while. I had to agree, for even though I could change my own temperature to match whatever I needed, there was something just refreshing about a more old-fashioned way of beating the heat. Everyone quickly returned to better spirits after that.

The day wore on, and evening neared. We were not as far along as we thought, apparently, as no large landmass came in sight, and we were lucky to find a small island where we set down and set up camp for the night. Thanks to the two days of nearly straight flying, there was very little talk between the evening meal and when everyone crashed. As everyone else snored around me, though, I stayed awake for a short time, staring at the stars that winked into existence in the sky.

<We’re a long way out, huh?> Toothless said quietly, shaking me out of my thoughts as he ambled over next to me. <I thought you’d be asleep by now,> I drawled. He snorted. <I’m a Night Fury, I don’t get tired fast.> I smirked, before looking up at the stars again.

<If this were my home, I would have expected to be hitting North America by tomorrow,> I mused. Toothless nodded. <Well, from what we talked about earlier, our worlds may not be as similar as we thought,> he replied. <Well, similar enough when you still have a Europe and an Africa,> I qualified.

We sat in silence for a few minutes before I turned to face the Night Fury again. <You ever get the feeling that you’re headed into a lot more than you bargained for?> I asked. He chuckled a bit. <More so this past year with you around,> he teased. <But what do you mean here?> I sighed. <I don’t know. Probably just nerves, this is something I’ve never done before. But I can’t shake the nagging feeling there’s a whole lot more to this than we know.>

Toothless nudged me reassuringly. <We’ll be fine,> he said. <We have you, Hiccup, Astrid… granted, we’re stuck with Snotlout and the Twins, but I don’t think we’ll have any big problems.> I laughed quietly. <Yeah, you’re probably right. And I’ve been able to keep Ruff and Tuff in check this far, we should be alright. Thanks for the support.>

The two of us continued to observe the stars for a while, before eventually, our eyelids finally dragged themselves down and we both drifted off to sleep where we lay.

* * *

“There it is!” Ruffnut yelled, pointing off to our right as she and Barf looked to the west. We all turned, following her finger, and sure enough there was a faint line on the horizon, angling off to the south. We banked in its direction, and soon the mountains we had heard reports of began to loom ahead. “We need to gain altitude,” Stormfly observed. “We won’t be able to fly over this low.” “Agreed,” I replied, and we angled up, catching updrafts and soaring high above the ocean waves. It wasn’t long before we were near enough to spot details on the sheer cliffs.

“Looks like the rumors were right,” Hiccup commented. “There’s no way at all to get through from this side, save by air.” Indeed, the entire side of the land we approached was sheer cliff, without any cracks or crevasses and only rarely fronted by small, rocky beaches torn up by the actions of the sea. Up above, though, past the tops of the cliffs, I could see small peaks beyond. “Looks almost like a fracture from an earthquake,” I muttered. “That would have had to be an enormous quake then,” Fishlegs added.

As we got closer, the mountains beyond the cliffs came more into focus: a massive range, stretching at least 50 miles wide, and extending as far as the eye could see both north and south. Beyond that, there seemed to be….

“You guys hold up for a second,” I called out, before morphing to Wind fury and rocketing upward to get a better view. As I climbed high into the air, the landscape began to lay out clearly. Where we were, the mountains began to soften into a jagged plateau, cut by deep ravines and smaller mountain ranges. To the south, the plateau smoothed out further and gave way to a wide forest, with at least one very noticeable glistening river, only visible at this height thanks to my draconic eyes.

Beyond the river was another range of mountains snaking across the land from the main range at the cliffs, dividing the forest from a massive desert. I couldn’t see further south than that, and that was looking out a couple of hundred miles, and I couldn’t quite see the other side of the land below either, but there seemed to be an end, possibly another ocean.

I back-flipped and rocketed back downward, changing to Night fury again as I reached the gang and slowed down. “Well, what did you see?” Camicazi queried. I shrugged. “It’s just one long strip of land, maybe one or two hundred miles wide, probably a couple thousand long.” “What kind of habitat?” Fishlegs asked next. “Plateau where we are,” I replied, “and further south is forest. Beyond that, I can see the edges of a desert.” I turned to look down at the cliffs, which were only a few miles further west now.

“The weirdest thing is, I could have sworn I’ve seen a map of this place,” I mused. “Only, only there’s something off, like the picture is flipped or something. I remember mountains to the west, and flatter lands to the east.” Hiccup and Toothless drifted closer. “Do you remember where you found this map?” he asked. I sighed and gave him a look. “Well, if I knew that I’d probably have the answer. I keep thinking of a book of some sort, but I can’t quite put my finger on it.”

“Don’t you mean paw?” Cami butted in. Chuckles escaped from the other teens, and I turned to her, trying not to smile. “Finger, paw, kind of the same thing for me,” I drawled, failing at my effort and smiling anyway.

“Well, let’s stop just sitting here and go take a look around,” Thuggory interjected. “That is why we’re here, isn’t it?” We all nodded in agreement, and glided toward the cliffs again. Within a couple minutes we were gliding over the mountains, and continued out over the plateau, keeping an eye out for anything of interest.

As we reached the first area of wide, flat ground (though still cut by small ravines and washes), movement caught my eye from down below. “Look!” I said quietly, and pointed with a claw. Below a small valley opened up from one end of a canyon, and something was emerging out into it. As the thing showed itself fully, we all gasped audibly. “Get higher!” I hissed, and we shot upward, toward the clouds.

After we had broken through the clouds, we all stopped and looked at each other, anxious faces on each of us. “Y-you all saw that, right?” Snotlout stammered. “They looked human,” Cami said, “but there’s no way they were! I mean, they were at least 15, 20 feet tall!”

And that’s exactly what we’d seen: the things that walked out into the valley were giants, almost human like but far too large to be one. Fishlegs shook his head in confusion. “How’s that even possible?” he asked.

We hovered there, shell-shocked, trying to process what we’d seen traipsing around below us, for probably ten minutes, unable to say anything, before a thought finally occurred to me.

“The Anakim,” I mumbled. “What?” Astrid asked, being closest to me and able to hear me muttering. I shook my head and blinked my eyes a couple times. “There are records from….from biblical times,” I said. “Demons paired with men to produce giant offspring, known as the Anakim, or Nephilim, and they were feared. These giants may be direct descendants of them, if the same history happened here.” That killed off any high spirits anyone had left. “Well, then, let’s try and avoid them, shall we?” Hiccup said. “Surely they don’t live everywhere here. And if they do, this will be a short trip.”

I nodded. “Yeah, let’s continue south. Maybe they only reside in the mountains here. The forests could be safer.” “It would be harder for them to move in thick trees,” Fishlegs noted. We all let out a few shaky breaths and nods, and turned southward, staying high up above the land. We stayed where we could see the ground, but far enough up, hopefully, so that we would not be easily seen. Along the way, came more signs of the giants living in the land, with massive monuments built in the rocks, and what appeared to be scattered houses and even massive castles. I pursed my lips in thought. “Well, at least they appear to be somewhat civilized,” I said. “They managed to build houses at least.”

Me and my big mouth. No sooner had I said that, than the clouds above us cleared into blue sky, and a group of the giants below looked up and spotted us. My eyes widened as I watched them begin pulling out massive hunting bows.

“MOVE!!” I screamed, and we all scattered, shooting upward again as five foot arrows came streaking up toward us. Below, I heard a gruff, heavily accented voice yell out, “Don’ let them get away! Them birds be perfect as roasts for the feast!”

I froze and glared downward. The other teens saw the look in my eyes and gave me a wide space. “Birds, eh?” I growled, before looking at the gang. “You stay here, I will be right back.” I flipped around in midair and flared my wings, in clear view of the apparent hunting party below. A new image appeared in my head, and my arms and legs melted away, and my wings stretched out to a ridiculously huge size, and razor sharp at the edges. I was a full-grown Timberjack now, and not the least ticked off. I dove off to one side, taking the giant’s attention with me, and disappeared into a small gorge, before turning toward the posse.

I exploded out of the gorge, right in front of the giants, and flared my wings, watching as their eyes widened upon finally realizing I was no mere bird. I sucked in a breath, building up fuel, and let loose, not shooting at them, but encircling the group in a ring of fire. The flames leapt more than high enough to keep them from simply stamping them out and trying to come after me, so I took another circle around them to make sure they got the message.

“Do we really look so much like birds to you anymore?” I hissed threateningly, watching as the giants shrank back. I caught the word dragon whispered, and smiled, knowing they got the picture. I rocketed back up, leaving them to figure out what to do with the flames, and changed to Night Fury again, joining my friends. “They won’t be bothering us for a while, I think,” I said nonchalantly, before turning serious again. “But, just to be safe, let’s get out of here anyway.” They all nodded. “Agreed.”

* * *

Within a half hour, we finally left the plateau, and luckily enough, all evidence of giant habitation. Below, a luscious growth of trees sprang up, a mix of pines and deciduous. “Oh, this is much better scenery,” Hiccup commented.

“A little warm, though, don’t you think?” Thuggory asked, tugging at his collar. I snorted. “I think it feels good.” “You’re a reptile, too,” Cami retorted nearby. “In more ways than one.” “Ha ha, yeah yeah,” I muttered. “Let’s just see if there’s a safe place to land.”

The forest stretched, seemingly unbroken, for miles. After a little while, though, we managed to find a small meadow cut by a creek. We all set down, and I changed back to human, laying on the grass. “Well, this looks like as good a place as any to stop for lunch,” I said, reaching back and grabbing my backpack off my shoulders. The others opened up saddlebags, and grabbed out packs of dried fruit and bread. As we ate, we kept up conversations about other possibilities of the place we’d found ourselves in.

“I wonder if those guys are where we get our stories of the frost giants,” Fishlegs mused. “I mean, if anyone encountered them it would have been far up north.” “Possibly,” Astrid said. “But, I have another worry. If the people here are huge, does that mean the animals are too?” I shrugged. “We don’t know anything about this place, so anything’s possible,” I answered. “I mean, the giants thought at first we were just birds. Though after my stunt I found out they do know what dragons are.” “It could just be that region too, though,” Fishlegs added again. “Animals, and people for that matter, don’t tend to travel far from home very often.”

“Let’s hope so,” Ruffnut replied, leaning against her Zippleback’s neck. “We wouldn’t want me to end up as giant food.” “Ha! That’s not true, it’s just me we’re worried about,” Tuffnut retorted, his signature grin spreading across his face. “Oh yeah?” snapped Ruffnut, standing up and smacking her brother upside the head. “Hey!” Tuffnut yelled, pushing back, and in the process starting up another sibling quarrel.

I sighed. “Will you two cut it out already?” I groaned. They ignored me, naturally, and continued bickering and rolling across the ground. “Troll!” “Fishbreath!” “Fart-face! Ow!”

“Oh, for the love of-“ I started, sitting up and glaring at the two of them, having had enough. “Alright, you two STOP IT NOW OR I’LL-“

SNAP!

We all froze, and slowly turned to look in the direction of the sound. There was silence at first, but soon, the sound of rustling leaves and breaking twigs could be heard. Something fairly large was coming our way. “Everyone get in the air,” I said, gathering up my pack and slinging it on quickly, morphing to Night Fury immediately after. As the teens hurriedly packed away their things and got on their dragons, I stayed glued to the location the rustling was coming from.

No sooner had everyone gotten on their dragons than we all left the meadow, arcing up into the air and moving south. I glanced back just to see if whatever it was would happen to come out into the open, and managed to catch a glimpse of….yellowish fur?

I blinked and slowed, turning and looking closer in to the trees at the meadow’s edge, but there was nothing. Not a sign of anything living save the plants and insects.

“You alright Hawken?” Hiccup called out. I shook my head and turned around again. “Sorry, thought I saw something,” I muttered. “Let’s just get going again.”

We rose high above the trees and caught a tailwind, riding it to the east and slightly further south. The landscape undulated in hills and small depressions beneath us, the occasional stream or ravine marking the land passing underneath. At one point, at the edge of another clearing by a large hill, I thought I spotted a set of ruins, as the rocks appeared to have been placed instead of fallen there, but without stopping to look there was no way to be sure.

Finally, though, the glimmer of ocean waves became visible as we neared the other side of the land. “Well, at least we know there’s a good source of food over here,” Stormfly said. I laughed. “Oh, I’m sure you guys can at least try something other than fish to-“

“Hawken, look!” Astrid shouted, cutting me off and pointing southward toward the coastline. On the edge of the sea was a structure definitely recognizable as manmade: a castle, standing high upon a hill overlooking a bay. And unlike the buildings we had seen earlier, this one looked more of a normal size range.

“Well, it looks normal enough,” I drawled. “Let’s find out if someone here might be a bit friendlier than the giants.” They all nodded, and angled downward, gliding toward the castle. Once again, though, the layout of the structure hit me as unsettlingly familiar. I knew I had seen or read about this somewhere, and it was eating at me, that I could not figure out where from. However unknown to me, we were about to find out just how familiar this place really was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While it's not really the exact belief I hold anymore, indeed one of the theories/translations about the great men of renown and giants of the beginning Bible records is that the "sons of God" were the fallen angels, and they produced the Anakim and Nephilim when they took "daughters of men" as their own. My thoughts nowadays lean more to a mixing of godly and ungodly people as the real translation, but we might never know...either way, something was up back then and it resulted in people who well exceeded today's norms in terms of size and capabilities, and in a world where anything is turning out to be possible, why not stretch that a little more?


	4. Welcome to...Where?!

As the castle loomed larger and larger ahead of us, and we began to descend toward the ground, a realization suddenly hit me.

“Hey, Hiccup?” “Yeah?” “Would it be a problem if another passenger joins you?” Hiccup glanced up at me with confusion, before my conclusion registered to him as well, and shook his head. “No, I don’t mind, but you really should ask the one who would be carrying you,” he replied, patting Toothless on the neck. The dragon just snorted. <And why would I have a problem? Just don’t poke me with the swords,> he drawled. I glided down carefully just above Toothless and shrunk down to my normal self, keeping the wings until I had actually set down on Toothless’ back behind Hiccup. Once I was sure I wouldn’t slip off, the wings folded away as well, and I grabbed the saddle.

“I don’t want to scare them any more than the dragons probably already will,” I chuckled. Hiccup snorted. “Well, let’s hope we don’t scare them too bad. I don’t want to be trying to fight off a castle full of people.”

The castle wasn’t actually on the mainland, but set on the cliff-side of a small island just offshore, jutting into the bay. A large bridge arced over the narrow channel of water and connected it to a large, open field on the edge of the mainland. As we neared within easy viewing of the castle, I watched as guards along the tops of the walls began hustling about, taking positions around entrances and some running inside, presumably to alert whoever lived there. “Well, at least they’re normal sized this time,” Thuggory commented nearby. “Doesn’t mean they’re friendly though,” Hiccup noted back.

Nevertheless, we all slowly glided down and landed in the open field, some distance away from the end of the drawbridge. As everyone dismounted from the dragons, Hiccup, Toothless and I walked to the front of the group, and waited. Soon enough, the gate to the castle opened up, and a group of armored men on horseback came riding out and across the bridge toward us. They stopped and observed us about 20 feet away from where we stood. However, they weren’t acting too overly friendly, so I discreetly placed a hand on the hilt of a sword, just in case.

“Foreigners! May I ask who you are, and what your business is here?” the man in the middle of the group called out. He was the most ornately dressed, with decorative lacing on his sleeves and weapons, but not overly so. Hiccup stepped forward. “My name is Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the third, son of Chief Stoick the Vast of the Hairy Hooligan Viking tribe,” he introduced himself, before gesturing toward the east. “We are an explorative group, coming from past the ocean on the other side of the mountains bordering the west side of this place.”

The man nodded slowly. “I see. We have never had visitors from beyond the mountains anywhere. Are all of these people with you on this exploration?” Hiccup nodded, and pointed casually toward me and the rest of the gang. “They are my friends, Hawken, Astrid, Fishlegs, Snotlout, Camicazi, Thuggory, and Ruffnut and Tuffnut. We are not all of the same tribe, but we were chosen to take this mission together.” The man nodded again and chuckled.

“Interesting names you have, I must say,” he said, smiling. “If you are here on none other than an exploratory mission, then welcome.” He gestured to himself. “I am Caspian, king of this land, from the northern Mountains to the edge of the southern desert.” He dismounted his horse and approached us, hand outstretched. Hiccup took his hand first and shook it, then me. “You are the first people I have encountered who ride what I assume are dragons, too,” he said. Hiccup chuckled. “Yes, well, it’s not something common in the rest of the world,” he replied.

As the two of them spoke, I watched Caspian, and something struck a chord. “You…look familiar,” I said, gesturing to him, “like I’ve seen you from somewhere before.” Caspian turned to me and raised an eyebrow. “I don’t see how that can be,” he said. “We’ve only just met, and I certainly don’t remember you. Like I said before, you are the first people that we have even seen from beyond the western mountains.” I shook my head and smiled sheepishly. “I know. You probably just look like someone I know. I just can’t shake the feeling, that’s all.”

“Newcomers, eh?” a new, very familiar voice then spoke. I looked around, but saw no one new, and none of the guards had spoken. “Where did they say they were from again, Caspian?” it said again. I glanced at the king, who nodded toward the ground beside him. I glanced down, following his gesture, and nearly choked on the breath I sucked in, as did the rest of the teens behind me.

Standing there on two legs, with a thin belt around his waist attached to a sword, and a gold ring decorated with a red feather around one ear, was…well, a large mouse. He glanced up at me as I took a step backward in shock.

“Are you alright, sir?” the mouse asked, a touch of worry painting his features. I swallowed and tried to speak, but the words I had died on my tongue. I tried again, and managed to get out a shaky, “Is… is your name…uh, Reep…Reepicheep, by any chance?” The mouse cocked his head curiously. “Yes, yes it is, but how would you know that?” he asked. “We’ve never met.”

I took another step back and raised my hand to rub the side of my head, which was starting to feel a little light. “Uh, Caspian,” I said quietly, “I did not ask this before, but, uh… does this land have a particular name, by any chance?” The pieces suddenly were falling together, why I felt like I already knew this place, everything fitting way too easily: the matching landscape, the large talking mouse at our feet, and a young king named Caspian. I had already seen one book-turned-movie come to life, but two? In the same world? It was starting to hurt.

“We call this place Narnia,” Caspian replied confusedly. “But I don’t see what is such a big deal about….” He trailed off at about the same time my vision began to swim. That was the last piece of the puzzle, confirming the ridiculous thought I had formed in my head. I felt myself sway back and forth a little, and managed to get out a very odd, giddy sounding, “So I have seen you before!” before everything blacked out and I collapsed backward.

* * *

Caspian watched, a little put off and worried, as the boy fell backward, only to be caught by the black dragon standing behind him and the other skinny teen, before turning toward Hiccup, who also watched with reserved concern. “Um, does he do that often?” Caspian asked. Hiccup blinked and looked away from his friend. “Uh, not-not usually. It usually means there’s something he knows that we don’t, and we’re all in for a big surprise later, though.” He looked around. “Maybe there’s more to this place than my friends and I bargained for.”

Caspian crossed his arms in thought, but couldn’t make out much sense of what the boy had just said. He shrugged it off and smiled. “Well, we can figure it out later. Please, come with me,” he invited, turning toward his horse. “We’ll see if we can help wake your friend back up and get all of this straightened out.”

The gang followed Caspian and his men toward the castle, all of them cautiously watching the talking mouse they had just met. Reepicheep noticed and chuckled, turning to look at the motley crew. “I don’t see how I’m the interesting one when you all are the-uh, what did you say, ‘Vikings?’-who came riding in from past the mountains on what appear to be dragons,” he mused. The teens blinked and blushed at being caught, and Astrid shook her head. “Sorry, uh, sorry. We’re just not used to, uh, animals being able to talk back,” she explained sheepishly. She gestured to Thorn, who was hovering protectively over her shoulder. “We’ve been around dragons our whole lives.”

Reepicheep cocked his head up curiously as he stared up at the reptiles. “The dragons around here are rarely so tame,” he commented, “usually keeping to themselves.” He shrugged and smiled again. “Ah, well, no worries as long as they don’t try to eat any of us,” he half-joked. What he wasn’t expecting was the dragons all starting to belt out their own version of laughing as Stormfly looked down at the mouse over Cami’s shoulder. “Mice aren’t on the menu, mostly just fish. You have no need to worry about us,” she said teasingly. Reep did a double take as he was addressed by the dragon, as Caspian glanced over his shoulder and smirked. “I see we’re all full of surprises today, aren’t we?” he mused.

As Caspian’s men took Hawken to one of the nurses in the castle (after much convincing of Toothless, who was being protective of his friend), Caspian himself and Reepicheep (of course) engaged in conversation with the teens in a large roomy hall in the building.

“Now, from what I gathered you all are from three separate villages, or tribes, you said,” Caspian spoke as he gestured to the teens, “but what about that other boy, Hawken?” he looked at Hiccup directly. “If it weren’t for the clothes that I know are not like yours at all, I would have said he almost looks like your brother.” There were a few “uh”s and some averted eyes, no one quite sure how to broach that subject, before Cami responded slowly.

“He probably wouldn’t like us telling anyone where he comes from, he usually prefers doing that himself,” she explained. “It can be a bit, er, hard to swallow, so it would probably be best to wait for him to wake up before asking that.”

Caspian sighed in response. “Well, from what the nurse told me, that may be anywhere from a few minutes, to a couple hours before he rouses again,” he said. “Can I at least inquire as to what it may have been that made him pass out? He seemed rather shaken by both me and Reepicheep.” Everyone just shrugged. “Hawken seems to know a bit more about a lot of things than the rest of us do,” Astrid replied. “It has to do partly with where he comes from, and the things he can do.” Caspian raised an eyebrow, but decided not to try and pursue the subject further just yet. Reepicheep, however…

“He’s not a wizard or something, is he?” the mouse asked, climbing up on the armrest of a chair. There was silence for a moment, before the teens started laughing. “Don’t let him hear you say that,” Cami giggled. “He’d have a fit!” “He’ not a wizard, far from it,” Hiccup explained. “He’s really not too much different from us, there’s just some… special qualities about him.” “Yeah, you should see him fight!” Tuffnut butted in, before getting elbowed by his sister.

Stormfly, who was laying nearby on the carpets that covered the floor, looked up. “He often acts as a liaison between the other dragons and people, when I’m not there,” she said. Cami glared at her dragon, thinking she had said too much, as Caspian looked curiously over at the mood dragon. “Are you the only dragon that can speak?” Stormfly nodded. “Other than a few other rare species, yes.” “Luckily for us,” Camicazi retorted. Chuckles escaped the Vikings as Stormfly turned beet red. “You’re not funny,” she griped. Cami just gave her a deadpan look. “I disagree.”

“So, he can speak to dragons?” Reepicheep queried. “In a way,” Hiccup replied. “That’s all he’d really want us to say.” “Hmm,” hummed the mouse. “Quite the mysterious one then, your friend is, isn’t he?” “When he wants to be,” Astrid replied. “But he’s a good person to have around, a very good friend.” There was a moment of awkward silence as no one had anything more to really say on the subject, before Hiccup cleared his throat and spoke up.

“So, uh, Caspian, I was wanting to ask about some of the other, uh, ‘inhabitants’ of this place,” he started. Caspian leaned forward a bit. “Like whom?” he asked. “Well, for starters, we ran into the giants up further north earlier,” Hiccup continued. “Do they only live up there? And do you know where they came from?” Caspian smiled slightly and nodded. “Yes, the giants stay up in the plateau up north,” he said. “Occasionally they will come further south trying to settle here, but very few are all that kind, so we’ve been at war with them over the years rather often. I don’t know their history, as they have been around longer than there have been any real records, certainly even longer than the animals that talk.”

“And that’s another question I had,” Hiccup said. “Animals don’t talk anywhere else on this planet, why can they here?” Here, everyone including Caspian looked to Reepicheep, who shrugged. “Even I don’t know the answer to that one,” the mouse admitted. “We just have been able to ever since the first guardians of this place we call home arrived.” “So there are some mysteries here that could still be answered, huh?” Fishlegs mused, pulling out a small notebook and writing something down. Reep nodded.

At that moment suddenly, one of the castle guards came running into the room. “Your majesty, he said, slowing down and bowing in front of Caspian. “Nurse Elise sent me to tell you that the boy is beginning to come to again.” Caspian smiled. “Thank you. You may resume your previous post now.” The guard bowed again and left as Caspian turned to the teens. “Well, let’s go and see how your friend is doing now, shall we?”


	5. Waking in Fantasy

I came to slowly, the feeling returning to my limbs and body bit by bit, and then the rather expected sensation of lying flat. The sensation of laying on something extremely soft, however, was not expected. “This passing out thing is really getting old,” I mumbled to myself, before slowly attempting to open my eyes.

I was lying in a very large bed, in an even larger room, all of which appeared very ornately decorated. Slowly, to avoid becoming lightheaded again, I sat up. Looking at the bed, it was rather clear I was in the castle, as no other place was going to be able to afford such luxury. Then, I looked to my left.

“AAAHHH!!! Geez, Astrid, do you have to do that?!”

Astrid chuckled and stood up from the chair she was sitting in, very close to the bed. “A little déjà vu is good for you now and then, don’t you agree?” she teased, referring to the time I first woke up in Berk. I rolled my eyes and, after making sure I did have my clothes on, turned and slid out of the bed. “Where’s all my stuff?” I asked. Astrid, who was heading toward the door, pointed to the corner of the room, where sure enough, my pack and weapons were sitting on a small, ornate looking table. “Thanks,” I said, and walked over to them, digging through the pack to make sure everything was still there before slinging them on.

I turned to see Astrid poke her head out the door. “Yeah, he’s officially up now,” she said to someone, then popped back into the room. A moment later, the door opened fully and in walked Hiccup, followed by Caspian, Reepicheep, and then the rest of the teens.

Suddenly, the room didn’t feel quite as big as it did before.

“I hope you’re not going to faint from the sight of us again,” Caspian joked, a warm smile on his face. I sighed and shook my head. “No, no, I think I should be fine,” I replied. “I apologize for that.” As I spoke, my eye swept downward to Reep. “By now I really should be used to finding the utterly unexpected turning up in my life.”

Caspian nodded, and sat down in a nearby chair, the teens taking up seats or slumping along the wall on either side of him. I could tell we weren’t leaving the room for a bit, so I shrugged my bag off again and perched on the end of the bed. “If you don’t mind me asking,” Caspian began, “I am rather curious to know a bit more about where you come from.” “Yes, judging just by your clothes alone we can tell you’re not a Viking,” Reepicheep added.

I shot Hiccup a look, and he held his hands up in surrender. “Hey, I didn’t really say anything,” he defended. I sighed, and looked back at Caspian. “Well, it’s a long story, really, so before I try to explain it, let me ask you a question first,” I said. “Does the name ‘Pevensie’ ring a bell at all?”

For a moment no one said anything. Then, Caspian began laughing. “Only a fool here in Narnia would not know that name,” he said. I smiled and nodded. “Well, for one that confirms a theory I’ve had for a little while, and second off, you understand I’m sure the concept of traveling between different worlds.” Caspian raised an eyebrow and leaned forward, intrigued. “Do you come from…oh, what did they call it….London as well?” This time I chuckled and shook my head. “No, no, I don’t come from their world. And London is the name of a city, one you do find in my home, but I live on an entirely different continent.” I waved my hand dismissively. “But, that’s not really an important detail. If what I know of the history of this place with the Pevensie siblings, my way between my home and this world is unrestricted unlike theirs. I can travel directly between my own home and the island of Berk.”

“Ah, yes, the island where your friends come from,” Reepicheep noted. “Well, not all of us,” Cami reminded. “Thuggory and I do come from different tribes.”

Caspian stood up. “Well, then Hawken, now that that part is cleared up some, I can now properly welcome you here as our guest,” he said, holding out his hand. I took it. “It’s not often we see people from other lands even on this continent,” he continued, “so you are welcome to stay for a little while, at least until my voyage begins.”

That word piqued our curiosity, and Astrid turned toward us from where she was examining a pair of ornamental swords. “Voyage? Of what kind?” Caspian turned to her. “Oh, just some issues I have to clear up. There’s a little bit of a mystery going on upon some of the islands to the west of here. I have to find some missing friends.” I chuckled in response. “Well, we are here on duty of exploration,” I said. “Perhaps we could join you to help.”

Caspian smiled. “Possibly, but I would have to find out first if we have a ship and crew that would be able to accommodate you all, since I am sure you would not be leaving your dragons here, am I right?”

A unanimous “Yes!” went up as the answer, and Caspian nodded. “Very well. Yes, the ship we were originally going to use, the _Tristan,_ would not be big enough, so I will have to see if there is a proper size vessel available. In the meantime, you are perfectly free to explore the castle as you wish, or the surrounding island, I just ask you not to disturb anything of value.” I looked directly at Snotlout and Tuffnut. “That means you two don’t touch anything,” I warned. “And that goes for you as well Cami,” I added as I watched her eyeing the ceramic flower vase sitting on the nightstand by the bed. She jerked and blushed at being caught, before moaning.

“But that’s what I’m good at!” she complained. “I’d give it back, most of it.” “I know, but I am warning you I will know if you touch or take anything, and you know I will know.” Cami slouched and groaned again. “Fine,” she conceded.

“Um, pardon the interruption, Hawken,” Reepicheep spoke up, climbing onto the ornate table, “but if you don’t mind my inquiring, exactly how is it you can speak to the dragons?” My eyes widened in mild surprise at him knowing this, before I looked at Hiccup again. “I thought you said you guys didn’t tell them much,” I quipped. He held up his hands again. “Quit looking at me, I didn’t,” he defended. “It was Stormfly who let that secret out.” I sighed. “Of course, I should have guessed.” Turning to Reepicheep again, I said, “I simply am able to speak their language. I’m sure most could actually learn it if they took the time, but I was gifted.” The mouse nodded in reply. “And, out of curiosity, do you come from the same time as the Pevensies?”

This question took me a minute to think about, but I eventually chuckled and shook my head. “No, I don’t believe so. The books I read where I come from that tell stories about them suggest they were in the middle of what we call World War II.” I shook my head. “Where I come from such events already passed long ago. But, on the other hand, where I come from everything I’ve seen of this place is nothing but books and stories, so who knows what time we’re all really in. Even the friends I came with here never existed in my world, and neither did the Pevensies.”

Caspian, who hadn’t left yet but was simply listening from the doorway, stood up straight again. “So, there are actually more than just two parallel worlds?” he asked. I shrugged. “Well, as far as I can tell from what I’ve seen.”

“Hey! Could we stop talking and get something to eat?” Snotlout suddenly butted in, ending our conversation right then and there. The gang all glared at him, but Caspian only laughed at the outburst. “Of course, you’re all welcome to join me for dinner,” he invited. “It will be another hour or so, so I guess until then you can go to the kitchen and see if there’s anything extra they might have-“ “Don’t give him any ideas,” Astrid warned him. Caspian only laughed again. “Well, I have to go check in on finding a proper ship, but I will see you all again around dinner. Again, feel free to explore, just don’t touch anything!”

With that, he headed out of the room, followed soon after by Reepicheep, who I could tell had more questions at the ready, but apparently had to help the king. Hiccup looked at me after they left.

“So that’s why you passed out,” he noted. “This place is another movie come to life.” I frowned. “Well, considering Caspian has dark brown hair instead of blonde, so far it’s looking like the movie version, but we can’t be sure yet.” I glanced toward the window of the room. “Either way, though, nothing’s really happened yet, but considering what Caspian said he’s about to go find, one of them may be about to happen.” I looked at each of the teens in sequence, a serious expression on my face. “Certainly keep your wits about you. It may be coincidence, it may not be as bad as I am imagining, but in any case if we do all decide to join him, be ready for anything.” And with that dark note, we all filed out of the room to either find the dragons or, in mine and Hiccup’s case, explore the castle after his dragon found us.

* * *

It certainly wasn’t exact, but the place we were in was very similar to the movie Narnia I’d become familiar with. There were all sorts of people about, busying themselves with duties around the castle or visiting from the town that was apparently not too far away, and every now and then some sort of familiar animal would run by, giving us a start as they apologized for speeding past us or simply saying hello. At one point, after I’d split off from Hiccup and Toothless and ran into Astrid, I happened to look out a window and spot a griffin land on the outer wall of the castle.

There’s an interesting fact for the readers: griffins, for all the supposed mishmash body parts people describe them as having, are actually a species of dragon, with the scales modified into forms of feathers like some rare species and a birdlike beak to match.

But, there was one detail that stood out startlingly clear as missing though: the books and movies so many people enjoy are famous for the other creatures of myth and legend that populated Narnia, but none of them were here. There were no centaurs, no fauns or minotaurs: heck, even the most unusual animals running around couldn’t really be called more strange than Barfbelch. Astrid must have noticed my perplexed and deeply-in-thought look, as she stepped away from the tapestry on the wall behind us and walked over to where I leaned against the windowsill.

“Something wrong?” she asked, looking out the window as well at the castle courtyard below. I smiled and shook my head as I drifted back to reality (or, this world’s version of it). “No, nothing wrong, just something confirming another theory of mine. There’s a key feature that’s missing here.” “And what would that be?” she asked curiously. I smiled. “Well, the books and movies both had creatures in them from all sorts of myths and legends, like fauns and centaurs. Though that was probably to just increase the magical aspect of the story the author was hoping for.” Astrid laughed. “Really? The Greek myths? That’s funny.” I shrugged. “Eh, dragons are no more than myth in every culture of my world. Or, at least they used to be, that’s not really the difference.”

We stood in silence for a moment, before Astrid replied, “Good point. So why do you think they’re not here?” I smirked. “Such things couldn’t really be possible. A creature that’s half human, half animal in permanence really couldn’t survive in any way. And of course there’s the fact that such half-creatures are considered unnatural or demonic by most beliefs.” Astrid nodded. “Well, you’re probably right, especially on that first one. Such things just can’t actually be meant to be, can they?” I shrugged again, and Astrid frowned. “Is that your answer for everything?” I shrugged exaggeratedly and tried not to laugh as Astrid mockingly punched me in the shoulder. “Ha ha, very funny. You’re just as bad as Hiccup with his silly hand gestures,” she teased.

Just then, Caspian came walking by, trailed by the rest of the gang. The dragons were outside, since some of the castle halls were a bit small for some of them. “There you two are,” he said, walking toward us. “Dinner is in only a few minutes, and I did manage to find a ship large enough if you are, in fact, planning to come along, but the crew expects you to help out on occasion at least, to make carrying you worth their time and money.” I nodded in response and looked to Hiccup. “You guys agree?” He nodded in response, followed by the other teens. “Well, then, I guess its settled: we’ll tag along, at least for a while,” I confirmed. “Besides, what did we come out here for if it wasn’t a little exploration and adventure?”


	6. The Familiar Five

When Caspian said it was a big ship, he wasn’t exaggerating. The _Dawn Treader_ in the movie was probably around, eh 150, maybe 200 feet long at most. The version we were going to be sailing on was at least twice that. “Looks like we certainly won’t be having any spatial problems,” I remarked as we climbed aboard. Looking over at the dragons on deck, I asked, “You guys sure you’ll be comfortable staying below deck?”

They all nodded. <We don’t really mind cramped spaces too much,> Fireworm remarked. <It’ll just be like staying in a moving house. And, as long as we can get out and fly around every now and then, at least, we’ll all be fine.> “Very well,” I replied. “Let’s get settled in properly then.”

Within an hour, everyone was on board, and settled in their respective rooms. Hiccup, Thuggory, and I shared a room, Snotlout and Fishlegs got stuck with the twins, and Astrid and Cami were together in their room. We would leave in the morning, as it was already getting quite late, but we did manage to get everyone comfortable before the sun went down. As the colors blazed over the ocean, I decided to get out of my cabin and have a look around, so when no one else could see me, I transformed and melted in the shadows, before setting out to explore our temporary home.

The ship was an average one when it came to the general build: the cargo hold with provisions and equipment in the bottom, a rowing room just above the water line, and a second empty cargo bay about midway up the ship toward the front where the dragons were staying. Along with those places we had the necessary kitchen area, navigation room, and of course the bedrooms occupied by everyone on board, though there were a couple empty ones still.

As I passed into the rowing hold, I spotted Reepicheep making his way down along the center aisle. No one else was around, so I silently materialized and changed back to human, stepping lightly up behind him.

“Hey Reep.” The mouse leapt up into the air in surprise, before landing gracefully, pulling out his sword and spinning toward me. “Who in the world dares….Hawken?” he sputtered. I chuckled in reply. “Oh, come on, you’re not going to shish kebab me just for that are you?” He blinked and slid his sword back into its scabbard. “How on earth did you manage to sneak up on me?” he asked, somewhat bewildered his big ears hadn’t heard me coming. I smiled. “Oh, when I want to be, I can be, as they say, ‘quiet as a mouse.’ Ask my friends sometime, they’ll tell you I’m good at staying silent.”

“Ah, yes, very funny, use the mouse cliché,” Reep retorted, though a smile did grace his features. “I don’t know of many animals capable of catching me off guard, let alone you loud, clumsy humans.” I snickered at the tease. “It comes in handy to be silent, just a talent I’ve learned over the years.” “That it does.”

We both headed up onto the main deck, and I glanced up at the deep reds and blues streaking the sky. “Something I’ve been curious about,” I heard Reepicheep begin next to me. “You said you have unrestricted passage between your world and ours? How does that work?” I raised an eyebrow as I glanced down at him. “You’re quite the curious one aren’t you?” He shrugged. “Yes, well, I like to know how things work. It’s not really important, but it’s been nagging at me for a while, so I felt I had to ask.” I laughed. “Well, it’s nothing spectacular. Just a portal, or if you like, a gateway between worlds. It just has open ends at my house and Hiccup’s island, and it’s never closed on us in the past year it’s been there.”

“Interesting,” the mouse mused. “Certainly not what one would call ‘normal,’ now, is it?” I smirked and couldn’t help but reply. “Well, anywhere but here, a talking mouse isn’t normal either.” “Neither is a boy who can speak to fire breathing, winged reptiles.” There was silence for a moment. “Touché,” I finally replied.

* * *

As the sun rose in the morning, it found us already moving out to sea, the ship making its way west, and slightly to the south. Within a mere two hours, we were no longer within easy sight of land (unless you had dragon eyes, of course). I moseyed around the ship, not much to do since we had a favorable wind and current. Eventually I ran into Hiccup again.

“Ever actually been on a ship like this?” I asked. He shook his head, looking a little pale. “Not while conscious anyway,” he replied. “To be honest I’m kind of surprised I’m not getting seriously seasick, though I do feel a little off.” I glanced at him, the edges of my mouth curling into a grin. “A Viking, seasick? Oh, what would your father say?” “To grow a spine and deal with it,” Hiccup retorted, mimicking his father’s deep voice. We both chuckled and meandered to the side of the ship.

“Looks deep,” Hiccup commented. I nodded and was about to reply, before something caught my eye ahead of the vessel. There was something floating in the water about a hundred yard ahead, but with the waves I couldn’t quite make it out. “Hiccup, look, there’s something out there,” I said, pointing in the direction of whatever it was. Hiccup squinted. “There’s more than one, whatever they are, but I can’t make them out,” he replied. I sighed and strengthened my vision, peering closer. With those kinds of eyes, I could make out every detail at a hundred yards out.

“Oh my god,” I exclaimed. Hiccup looked at me confusedly. “What is it? Something dangerous?” I shook my head, replying, “No, they’re people!” I spun around immediately and ran toward the helm, where Caspian was talking to the captain.

“Caspian! There’s someone in the water!” I yelled. He turned to me, growing concerned. “What happened? Someone fall overboard?” he asked. I shook my head and pointed past the prow of the ship. “No, up ahead, there’s at least a few. I don’t know how they got there, but they’re treading water.” Caspian nodded and jumped down to the deck, bypassing the stairs. I followed.

“Men! Prepare the rescue platforms!” he ordered, waving some of the crew on deck over to the side of the ship. I looked back toward the people in the water, and made a split second decision. “I’m going in!” I yelled, and ran to the front of the boat.

“Hawken, wait!” Caspian yelled, afraid I was doing something stupid, but Astrid stopped him from coming after me. “He’s alright, he knows what he’s doing,” she said, before nodding to me. I stepped up on the railing of the ship, and leapt over the side, diving into the water. As I hit the water, my eyes morphed to Seashade, and fins grew along my limbs so I could swim faster. Lifting my head up, I powered toward the castaways struggling in the water ahead, diving just under the surface to streamline myself. Within only a few seconds, I reached the nearest swimmer, and, removing my fins so as not to scare anyone, I popped to the surface right in front of….

Edmund?! I snorted and smiled, shaking my head slightly. Big surprise that our mystery castaways would be them. I swam up to him. “Hey, it’s alright! We’re here to help you,” I reassured, helping him keep his head out of the water. Edmund looked at me with a strange expression.

“Who are you?” he asked warily. I smiled again. “I’m a friend. You’re in Narnia.” His eyes widened in realization, and he glanced behind me. I turned to see Caspian and the crew jumping off the ship toward us. “Uh, out of curiosity, who’s the king right now?” he asked. “Right now? Caspian,” I replied. “You do know him, right?” He nodded slowly.

Caspian reached us first and headed for one of the girls nearby. When she spotted him, she spluttered, “Caspian?” “Lucy!” Caspian replied in surprise. “Are you all here?”

We looked around at the other castaways, and, save for one boy, I recognized all four of the Pevensies in the water: Susan, Peter, Edmund, and Lucy. _But that’s not how the story played out,_ I thought in confusion. _It should only be the younger two, and….._

Suddenly it clicked, and I realized who the flailing, screaming one was. I sighed and turned to Edmund. “Let’s get you on board the ship and dried off, shall we?” I offered. We swam over to the ship, and I helped him up onto the platform that was waiting, hanging over the side of the ship. As soon as I was on too, we were raised up to the main deck, where Hiccup and Astrid were waiting with towels. Hiccup handed both of us one each.

“And who are you?” Edmund asked, looking at the young Viking. “You’re certainly not Narnian. Are you Telmarine?” Hiccup glanced at me, unsure of what to say. “He’s a Pevensie, he doesn’t know about us yet.” Hiccup nodded. “Oh, okay.” Turning to Edmund, he introduced himself. “Well, I’m, uh, Hiccup, and I’m a Viking. We’re visiting from lands past the eastern side of Narnia.”

At this point the crew was starting to help up the other castaways, so I stepped back as Edmund ran over to find his siblings, and went down below to grab the other Vikings who hadn’t yet heard the commotion. Naturally, the dragons also heard us and followed up behind. Toothless hung over my shoulder when we reached the deck, while Stormfly crawled up onto the mast above.

The Pevensies did not miss the sudden new onlookers they had, and gasped when they spotted the dragon sitting on the mast. Caspian raised a hand of comfort to them. “Calm down,” he assured, “They’re friends. The dragons are here with the Vikings I told you about.”

“But we never encountered dragons that were friendly before,” Peter mused. “They’re also not from around Narnia, either,” Caspian returned.

A sudden squealing yell caused everyone to turn their attention to the side of the boat again, where Reepicheep had just succeeded in reviving the fifth castaway, who had passed out after his fit in the water earlier.

“Get it off me!!” Eustace screeched, throwing the oversize mouse in our direction. Reepicheep groaned in irritation and stood up, wiping water off his fur. “Reepicheep!” Lucy exclaimed, lighting up in recognition. Reep glanced up at her, and smiled in recognition as well. “Oh, your majesty!” he said, bowing. “It’s been a while here, since you last left.” “It’s been a while where we came from too,” Susan commented. As they spoke I turned my attention again to watch the Pevensies’ cousin, Eustace.

“Where is it?!” he snapped, sitting up and looking around. “Where is what?” Hiccup asked back, seeing my smirk growing and playing along. “The-that rat that was just here!” Eustace yelled. “Oh, there’s no rats on this ship,” I returned. Eustace looked at me incredulously. “It was just on me! Don’t say there isn’t one, it was just crawling on me moments ago!”

<Rather annoying one, isn’t he?> Toothless mumbled quietly behind me. Eustace, meanwhile, turned and managed to spot Reepicheep speaking to Lucy. “There!” he yelled again, pointing. “There! That giant rat just tried to claw my face off!”

Reepicheep just sighed and shook his head, turning to Eustace. “I was merely trying to expel the water from your lungs so you wouldn’t drown, sir,” he retorted. Eustace froze immediately, not believing his ears. “Di-did you just hear that?!” he squeaked, looking between Hiccup and I, and his cousins. “It just talked!”

“He always talks,” Astrid replied, appearing next to Hiccup. “Yeah, it’s getting him to shut up is the real trick,” Caspian teased. Everyone laughed as Reep gave Caspian a sidelong frown. “The moment there is nothing to be said, you majesty, I promise you I will not say it,” he grumbled.

“Well, I don’t know what kind of sick trick this is,” Eustace growled, standing up finally and heading toward his cousins, “but I want to wake up from this dream right now!” As he rambled to his cousins, Reepicheep looked up at Caspian. “Perhaps we can throw him back?” he asked almost jokingly. I glanced up to see Edmund’s mouth curling into a smile at the thought, before Lucy elbowed him in the ribs. “Edmund!”

Meanwhile, Eustace was starting to rant toward the rest of the passengers of the ship. “-practically drowning in the ocean all of a sudden, then dragged onto this blasted boat. I demand to know just where I….” his words died on his tongue as he turned, spotting the large black reptile currently lying about lazily on the deck behind me. “W-what is that?” he said cautiously, pointing at Toothless. I glanced back nonchalantly. “Oh, that? Well, that just happens to be our friend Toothless,” I drawled. “He’s a dragon, in case you didn’t recognize him.” Eustace slowly stumbled backward a step. “Where….in the blazes…am I?” he stammered.

Up above us, Stormfly lowered her head down next to the boy, flashing a golden, toothy smile. “You’re on the ship Dawn Treader, off the shores of a land here known as Narnia,” she said matter-of-factly.

That was finally too much for poor Eustace. Watching a dragon tell him where he was finally tripped the wire, and Eustace slumped to the deck, passed out cold. The Vikings and I along with much of the crew burst out laughing at the reaction, as the Pevensies rushed forward to make sure their cousin was okay. Lucy looked up at Stormfly curiously though, once they were sure he was still breathing. “Since when do dragons talk?” she asked curiously.

“All dragons can talk,” I said. “Stormfly’s just the only one around here who happens to speak what you and I would know as English.” Lucy and Susan both looked over at me, and the latter of the two asked, “And who, pray tell, are you? You remind me of those Americans I met not long ago.”

I glanced at Hiccup, who shrugged in response, and sighed. “Well, I am American,” I said, “though I’m from a different time, and probably another parallel world. I’m here with the Vikings on this trip.” “What time?” Lucy asked. “The 21st century, or at least the earlier part of it.” Edmund grinned. “Oh, that’ll annoy Eustace to no end when he wakes up.” “Edmund!” Susan quipped, glaring at her brother.

“Well, anyway, if we’re done with all of that,” Caspian interjected, motioning to the four, “Everyone, I would like you to meet our castaways, the former rulers of Narnia: kings Edmund and Peter, and queens Lucy and Susan, of a time over two hundred years ago!”

As the crew bowed, Hiccup leaned toward me and whispered, “They were royalty a couple hundred years ago?” I nodded. “ Yeah, though the books and movies said over 1300 years. That’s a big difference, though it still suggests time moves differently for our worlds and theirs. If everything else is correct, they helped Caspian win a war only 3 years ago as well, though.” I glanced back at the four. “But, they look a lot older than I was expecting them to. Something else is certainly a little different.” Hiccup nodded in reply, and we waited until he crew was finished paying their respects to their former rulers before we headed back below deck.

* * *

A day later found me above deck again, looking out over the ocean and watching what appeared to be a pod of dolphins jumping in the distance. I smiled, thinking about the whales that occasionally showed up around Berk, how they never seemed nervous at all about having a dragon watching them. Probably because dragons don’t eat whales, but still.

“So you can talk to dragons, huh?” I smiled, and turned to face Edmund, who had wandered up next to me at by the railing. “Who told you?” I asked knowingly. He shrugged and sat down on a crate. “Reepicheep. I asked him if he knew what you meant by all the dragons talking. Sorry about not coming to you directly about it, but it felt awkward.” I nodded and looked off in the other direction, where Reep was hanging off the rigging of the ship. “He is a talkative soul, isn’t he?” I noted. Edmund laughed. “You should have seen him a couple years ago,” he said. “I did, in a manner of speaking,” I replied.

Edmund turned to face me again, raising an eyebrow. “What, were you there or something?” he asked. “ I don’t exactly remember you in the battle or anything.” I shook my head. “No, nothing like that. We’re all from different worlds, remember?” I reminded him. “A good deal of things I’ve seen so far on this earth are but simple stories in mine, including the books of your history. The most accurate renditions tend to be movie versions however, though there are plenty of differences as well.” I looked at him. “You’re a lot older than the version I know, for example.”

“Interesting world you live in then,” Lucy said, appearing from below deck and coming to stand next to Edmund. “Your Viking friends at least come from the same planet as Caspian and the others, yet you come from somewhere else entirely.” I shrugged in reply. “Your point being?”

Lucy shrugged this time. “Well, out of everyone here, you’re the most mysterious and unknown to us,” she explained softly. I smiled. “Well, I can assure you I at least don’t pose a threat to anyone here. Or, at least not unless they give me a real good reason.”

Suddenly from the hatch leading to the rooms below came a loud, harsh voice. “-you thought she was doing! If you touch Thorn again, with a weapon of any sort or otherwise, I’ll smack you with this from one end of the ship to the other, then tie you off the end of the prow like shark bait!!”

The hatch slammed open, and Eustace backed out, tripping over himself as he tried to move away from Astrid, who was holding her axe up to his throat. I sighed. “What happened?” I asked, standing up and crossing my arms. Astrid glanced over at me, before glaring at Eustace again. “The runt here woke up in the empty cargo bay where they were keeping him, to see Thorn standing on the other side of the room. He threw one of Cami’s knives at her for no reason!” she snapped.

“Eustace, did you really do that?” Lucy asked warningly. Eustace tried to talk, but nothing but a squeak came out. He swallowed and tried again. “W-well, I, uh, I didn’t know what it was doing! The thing was staring at me like I was its next meal!” I snorted and leaned against the mast. “Oh, please. Dragons don’t eat people,” I rebuffed. “Most won’t even try to harm you unless you do so first.” Eustace turned to look at me, though still keeping a very wary eye on Astrid. “Are you out of your mind?!” he snapped. “They’re fire-breathing, flying, demonic monsters! I mean, have you even seen that spiky one down there?” I grimaced in irritation.

“Thorn happens to be a personal friend of mine,” I shot back. “Believe it or not, they have a level of intelligence very near to if not equal to our own, they understand what you say, and I, personally, will not stand anyone who attempts to harm them on the grounds of horribly inaccurate, biased, airheaded information!”

Edmund craned his head around to look at me weirdly. “Uh, H-Hawken, right? Are your eyes supposed to be red like that?” I blinked in surprise and heard Astrid snicker. We were used to it, so I hadn’t had anyone comment on it for a while. “Uh, yeah,” I said sheepishly. “They-they change color according to, uh, my mood.” Edmund shook his head. “Never seen anyone’s eyes go red,” he noted. “And now they’re blue.”

I sighed and focused back on Eustace. “Who are you?” he asked. “A friend of the Vikings and the dragons. A boy from another world, a secret holder, a sword fighter, you name it, I probably am it,” I replied, smiling mischievously. Eustace cocked an eyebrow. “Great, another nut-ball just like my cousins,” he muttered. I saw Edmund bristle. “Oh, come on! You’re standing on Narnian boat for pete’s sake!” he snapped. “There are dragons on this ship, and a talking mouse! Just how much more proof do you really need?” Eustace just glared at him.

“And whoever said I wanted to be on this boat?” he hissed. “We can always throw you back,” Reepicheep called from where he hung from the rigging nearby. Eustace’s eyes widened a bit. “There must be some way to get back!” he whined. “As soon as we find land I’m contacting a British consul, and having all of you arrested for kidnapping!”

“Good luck with that,” I muttered, just loud enough for Astrid to hear me. “ I thought the crew here saved your life,” she retorted. “You held me against my will!” Eustace shot back. Reepicheep glanced down at Edmund. “He’s quite the complainer, isn’t he?” the mouse asked. Edmund sighed, and began to speak.

“He’s just getting warmed up.”

“He’s just getting warmed up.”

We said it at the same time. Lucy and Edmund looked at me in surprise. “How did you know I was going to say that?” Edmund queried. I smirked. “You’re a story in my world, remember?”

Eustace glanced in confusion between us. “What in the world is wrong with all you people?” he asked incredulously. In response, I drawled, “Anybody got a piece of duct tape?”

* * *

The ship continued on its way, heading southwest toward a small chain of nearby islands, according to Caspian. I managed to catch some conversation between him and Peter, about the disappearance of some of Caspian’s allies, as they talked in the navigation room. I nodded as I headed past. “So there are a few more parallels,” I muttered, strolling off to find Hiccup.

“Big surprise to find you in here,” I joked as I walked into the dragon’s room (and apparently emergency sick bay, since it was where they’d kept Eustace, though I had my suspicions it was just set up by Edmund wanting to scare his cousin again). Hiccup was lying up against Toothless, looking somewhat solemn. “Something wrong?” I asked as I sat down next to him. He smiled slightly and looked over at me. “No, not really, just thinking,” he said. “I’ve got this odd feeling this trip is a bit bigger than we think.” I nodded. “It probably is, admittedly. The story I know of seems to be unfolding. Sure, most of it shouldn’t be a problem, but it ended with a bit of a bang in the movie. If it’s more like that than the book, we could have a lot to deal with.”

<Should we leave?> Toothless asked, raising his head and looking at me with a concerned expression. I shook my head. “Naw, we’ll be able to handle it, I’m sure,” I assured. “Plus, something tells me we should stick around anyway. They may need help, and I feel like there’s something we’re supposed to find. In any case though, if I’m correct, we’re in good company.” I glanced toward the exit. “One warning I feel like I should tell you now: ignore your strongest temptations. In this place, they can kill.” Hiccup looked at me with a questioning glance, but I didn’t say anything else past that.


	7. Lone Surprises

“Land ho!”

We were in our voyage only a handful of days, everyone having settled into life on the ship as best as we could. There had been a couple minor scraps between me, Camicazi, and Eustace, but nothing serious. However, the sight of land was a welcome thing to all of us.

Eustace was more than elated, as he wrongly assumed we might have been approaching a land with somewhat modern technology, something he could use to contact his home. The rest of us decided not to break it to him, instead waiting to watch the reaction that would certainly come as soon as we hit the islands.

Hiccup and Astrid came up to the deck and walked over next to me, by the railing. We looked out over the side, toward the looming islands ahead. “See anyone yet?” Astrid asked, as we were close enough to see outlines of buildings. I powered up my eyesight, but after a few moments of observation, I could only shake my head.

“Didn’t really expect to,” I admitted. “But I am going to go ashore with them. And I would like all the riders to fly a patrol around the perimeter of that island there.” I pointed toward the jut of land behind the larger one we were approaching. We would weigh anchor near the big one, which looked more inhabited, but we didn’t really know what could be on the other one either.

Astrid looked at me curiously. “Something going to happen there?” she asked. I shook my head, replying, “Not as far as I know, but I would rather not take any chances. With how empty the main town looks, I don’t want any nasty surprises.” Hiccup turned his eyes away from the town on the shore, and focused them on me. “Don’t do anything stupid while we’re busy,” he said, only half joking. I smiled and turned back toward the islands.

* * *

“You realize this could be extremely dangerous, right?” Peter asked as we climbed into the boats we would take to shore. I shrugged in reply. “Eh, I helped take out a rogue dragon that could spray both fire and acid, as well as turn completely invisible to the naked eye,” I drawled sarcastically. “I highly doubt there will be anything that will manage to scare me off here.”

“So there are dragons even you don’t like,” Eustace prodded. I shot him a glare, also noting Edmund doing the same thing out of the corner of my eye. “There’s no use in provoking anyone, Eustace,” Reepicheep called out from the boat next to us. Eustace was about to reply, before he yelped in surprise as the boats suddenly jerked downward as they were lowered into the water.

We reached the docking point on the shore and tied up, against a set of stone steps leading from the water to a path along the town wall. I stepped off the boat gracefully and turned back to see Reepicheep holding out a paw to Eustace, who was struggling just to stand up on the rocking vessel. “Come on, jelly legs,” he encouraged.

“I’m perfectly capable of doing it myself!” Eustace snapped in reply, just in time to trip over the side of the boat and fall onto the stone steps with a loud “Oooff!”

Reep sighed, and Caspian glanced at the Pevensie siblings, commenting offhandedly, “And you’re sure he’s related by blood?” Not that they were really paying attention to their arrogant cousin. Lucy and Susan stood close together, glancing around at the empty pathway and the buildings above. “It’s so empty,” Lucy said quietly. “Where is everyone?”

Reepicheep ran up to the slanting path just above us, and climbed up on the stone handhold. I followed him. “The entire place looks deserted,” Peter muttered behind us, before treading slowly past me.

BBOONNNNGGGGG!!!

Everyone except me jolted as a loud bell in the tower high above in the town rang out, and the flock of birds that were roosting in the tower took flight. Caspian and Susan raised their bows as Peter and Edmund pulled swords out. Caspian signaled forward before looking at Reepicheep. “If we’re not back by sundown, send a rescue party,” he ordered, before turning and walking up the path, crossbow at the ready. The Pevensies and I followed, Eustace awkwardly walking between us.

The path wound its way gradually upward into the town, through narrow streets and past a wide, barren courtyard. All around, there was barely any sign of recent habitation. “This is seriously creeping me out,” I heard Lucy whisper. Eventually, we reached the open courtyard in front of the bell tower. Eustace wandered off from us to look through a nearby window. A moment later, he backed away and nervously skittered toward us again.

“Looks like no one’s home, so should we just head back?” he asked as he trotted up to us. “Liar,” I muttered under my breath, knowing when someone was trying to hide something, but I didn’t bother saying anything out loud. Edmund looked tiredly over at his cousin.

“You want to come over here and…guard the door?” he asked. Eustace seemed to perk up a bit. “Ah, yes, good idea cousin!” he exclaimed a little too enthusiastically to be believable. As I sauntered over, Caspian gave Eustace a knife, which suddenly reminded me to check my swords: all four present and accounted for. Then, the rest of them began to head for the tower’s door.

“I’m going to check around back,” I said, and headed slowly around the corner as Caspian, Peter, Lucy, Edmund, and Susan stepped into the doorway and inside the tower. Turning up my hearing, I could barely catch the five’s voices inside through the thick stone walls. As I slunk around the edge of the building, I noted how large it was, and upon reaching the other end, I found an interesting clue: a piece of smooth cloth. I bent down, picking it up. “Hmm, matches what I remember of their clothes,” I mused, turning it over and examining it.

Movement! I jerked upward and looked toward the houses lining up next to me. Sliding up to the nearest wall, I strengthened my eyes and peered around into the gloom. No one was there, but I could hear skittering footsteps somewhere. I silently skirted the street to its end, looking down the side alley.

BONG! BONG! BONGBONGBONGBONGBONG!!! “YYAAAAHHH!!!”

I spun around, catching the sound of the bells ringing and the echoes of fighting drifting out of the bell tower. Striding back down the street, I made my way back toward the main door. “Sometimes I really hate being right,” I muttered, drawing my first sword.

“AAAAAHHHH!!”

An ear-splitting scream punctured the sound of battle, and I immediately recognized who it was. The next voice confirmed it. “Unless you want to hear this one scream like a little girl again,” a nasally, overconfident man spoke, “I suggest you put down your weapons.” The sound of the tower door closing was followed by Eustace squealing, “Lemme go!”

“Now!” the bandit yelled, as I skirted around the side of the tower and raced toward the front door. “You will be sorry you fools!” I heard Caspian reply as swords clanged to the ground inside. “Do you know who I am? I am your king!”

That was quickly followed by someone being slapped. “You’re going to pay for that!” Edmund growled. Meanwhile, I slowed as I reached to front door, raising my sword up in front of me, as another, even more egotistic voice called out, “Actually, someone else is going to pay. For all of you.”

I smirked. “Afraid not, airhead,” I muttered, and aimed the tip of my sword at the seam between the doors. Focusing for a moment, I felt energy build up inside me, and I sent a stream of electricity crackling down the sword, causing it to glow red hot, and the bolt exploded off the tip and hit the seam, crackling and sending the doors blowing open in a flash, a roiling cloud of smoke, and a loud BANG!

* * *

As Hawken headed around the side of the building, Caspian led the others inside the tower. No torches were lit, and the only light was that which filtered through the small windows in the tower walls. The tower was mostly empty, the only thing inside being a small table, with a large open book resting on it.

“This is giving me a bad feeling,” Lucy said quietly. The others nodded, but still advanced toward the book. Upon reaching it, they peered at the scrolling lists of names inside, with numbers corresponding to each one. “This looks like a monetary record,” Peter said. “But who are all these people, and why have some of them been crossed out?”

“Maybe it’s a tax record of some sort,” Susan offered. Caspian however, shook his head. “No, this is a slave trader’s book. These are people who have been sold.” There was silence for a moment, before Lucy replied. “So that’s where everyone has gone,” she muttered. “They’ve been sold as-“

Suddenly, she was cut off as the bells above them began to clang and ring, and the yells of numerous men rang out above them. All five pulled out their weapons, Caspian and Susan aiming their bows upward and firing at the men who came sliding down the bell pulls. A couple arrows found their mark as the slavers screamed and fell off, hitting the ground hard. The rest landed easily, however, and pulled out weapons of their own. They launched themselves at the newcomers, blades flashing. Edmund and Peter parried the blows and sent a number of men to the floor, some of them never to get back up, and the others soon became busy themselves as they fought off the marauders.

“AAAHHH!!!!”

The scream echoed through the tower, causing everyone to stop, and turn toward the door. There, stood another bandit, holding Eustace by the arm and holding the knife Caspian had given him to the boy’s throat. “Unless you want to hear this one scream like a little girl again,” he warned, closing the doors behind him, “I suggest you put down your weapons.” “Lemme go!” Eustace squealed, before the man brought the knife up tighter and yelled, “Now!”

“Eustace!” Edmund growled angrily, as he and the others dropped their swords helplessly. As the bandits moved forward to start binding their captives, Caspian glared angrily at them. “You will be sorry you fools! Do you know who I am? I am your king!”

Naturally, the slave traders didn’t care. As they put them into shackles, one of them reached out and smacked Edmund across the face. He grimaced, and glared at the man, growling, “You’re going to pay for that!”

“Actually,” a new voice sneered, as a very ornately dressed man stepped out of the shadows, “Someone else is going to pay. For all of you.” He began to snicker as Caspian and the others struggled against their captors, and they began to be dragged toward the doors.

That is, until the air around the doors began to crackle, and the seam between them lit up blindingly, the doors exploding inward in a cloud of smoke and electric sparks. Everyone in the tower stood stock still as the smoke cleared, revealing another young teen with a glowing hot sword crackling with lightning, and a pair of cocky, glittering red eyes and slit pupils.

* * *

“What on earth?!” someone sputtered inside, and as the smoke cleared and the people I was facing became visible, I reabsorbed the residual electricity coursing over my blade, vaguely watching the blue bands of light run up my arms and dramatically circling my eyes before fading completely. I stepped forward and aimed my still-glowing sword at the man holding Eustace still by the neck.

“Release him and drop the knife,” I growled, now absorbing the heat and cooling the sword, the glow dulling to reveal the shining metal. The man looked down at the sword warily, then back up to me. “And who are you, little magician?” he sneered. My eyes shifted again, perfectly matching the shape as well as color of a Shadow dragon for a moment, before fading back to the dull red slits they were before.

“Magician or sorcerer I am not,” I hissed, the draconic edge leaking into my voice, “but one way or another I am the one who will see you put down that boy.”

The man drew his own sword, while still holding the knife to make sure Eustace didn’t try to run off, and aimed it at me. “I see we’ve got a daydreamer here,” he scoffed. “Because only in your dreams am I going to let him go.” I shrugged in response. “Very well, your choice.”

Not bothering to look behind me, I silently extended the split Zippleback tail, grabbing the doors while everyone was focused on my sword and eyes, and slammed them shut again. Retracting the tail back before anyone would notice, I took satisfaction in watching everyone jump at the sound, before spinning to the side and swiping my sword down onto the bandit’s, forcing it from his hand before he could react, and giving Eustace an opening which he wisely took, scrambling away and up against the wall. Meanwhile, more of the slave traders walked forward to surround me. I simply smirked and drew a second sword.

“Hawken, what are you doing?” I heard Caspian yell. “You’ll get yourself killed!” “I agree,” the apparent leader said, stepping to where I could see him. He was dressed in gaudy robes, and wearing a number of ornate necklaces and other shiny objects. “Drop the swords and we will spare you an extra beating,” he ordered. Every man drew a sword, and I just smiled wider, further irritating them. “Oh, good luck with that,” I quipped. “You’re too slow to even touch me!”

Laughing in a taunting fashion, I launched myself upward and over the circle of men, back-flipping and spinning as I landed to face them. From behind me again rose the bifurcated Zippleback tail, and with each tip I grabbed my final two swords, and whipped them out with a loud SCHWWAANNNNGG!! As they left their scabbards.

“Ready when you are,” I chuckled. The immediate response, naturally, was “Kill it!!” Immediately they all rushed at me, swords outstretched. I spun and leaped again, slashing my swords in four different directions at once, striking weapons, blunting heads, and shearing off swaths of fabric. I twirled the ends of my tail, the swords whistling as they spun and whipped outward, forcing the bandits back. Meanwhile, both hands were busy with one on one combat with two of the men. I turned on a dime, broadsiding a group of them with my tail and the swords, and put them out of action as they slammed either into the columns of the tower or the stone floor.

Coordination to separately control four limbs in battle is something only a dragon can really pull off well, and time seemed to slow down for me as the swords spun around me in a blinding blur. Time and again they clashed with metal and robes, and I was vaguely aware at one point of others joining the battle with me. As I leapt upward once again, I spread out a pair of Timberjack wings, gliding down and slamming them outward, flattening the bandits around me against the nearest wall. Not long after that, the last of them was brought down with an arrow from behind me. I turned to see Susan unlocked and holding her bow, and Peter sheathing his sword, while Caspian held the leader to the wall with his sword.

“So that’s why you can talk to dragons,” Peter commented almost nonchalantly as he looked around, then back at me, “you are one.” I chuckled and smiled. “Eh, only partly, but yeah.”

“AAAARRRGGHHH!!”

From the shadows burst one last bandit, sword held high and aiming for Caspian. I whipped my tail down again and grabbed a fallen dagger by its hilt, whipping it up and flinging it toward the man, catching him through the clothes on his shoulder and throwing him back, pinning him against a nearby column. Bending down and finding a set of keys on one of the men, I tossed them to Caspian, then grabbed the shackles now lying on the floor and began to bind the thieves.

“So what did they want you for?” I asked somewhat nonchalantly. “They’re slave traders,” Susan quipped back in disapproval. “I remember fighting men like them once, back when we were the Narnian rulers.” I nodded out of habit, before looking around at some of the bandits we’d chained up. Most of them were unconscious or worse, and the one I was chaining up now I could see had a deep sword wound. Knowing he was still alive, but not for much longer in that state, I placed my hand over the gash and focused for a minute, whispering out of habit, “Heal.” A slight glow appeared beneath my palm, and then disappeared as the man gasped in a deep breath, but remained unconscious.

“What was that?” Peter asked incredulously. “He was as good as dead! And now you’re a healer as well as a dragon boy?” I shrugged. “Well, if a person dies, they can’t really learn a lesson now can they?” I replied, not bothering to look up as I repeated the action on another still-breathing bandit. “Nor can they be humiliated by their actions. Plus, the healing thing kind of goes along with the whole turn-into-a-dragon thing.”

A rustling noise reached my ears, which swiveled backward as far as any human’s could. Turning, I spotted Eustace standing up slowly against the wall he’d cowered by, looking rather shell-shocked. “No reason to hide anymore,” I called out. He jumped in surprise and looked at me suspiciously.

“What. In the world. Are you?!” he exclaimed. “A human,” I drawled. He shook his head. “No, no you aren’t,” he snapped back. “A normal person doesn’t suddenly sprout tails and wings and fight like a martial arts prodigy!” I chuckled and shrugged as I turned to look directly at the boy. “Okay, so I’m not ‘normal,’ as you put it. Happy?” I stood up and flared my wings again for effect. Eustace jumped back again, this time comically hitting the wall, in response.

“I entered this world and was granted a gift,” I explained. “It’s one that has helped me save lives many times before.” Looking down at the men on the floor, I said, “Come to think of it now, I just saved your sorry, skinny butt as well. A little appreciation for that ought to be in order.”

Eustace just glared at me. “Some gift,” he spat as I returned to cuffing the bandits. “You’d think having a gift would mean you’d at least be able to become some sort of decent creature.” “Eustace, that’s enough!” Lucy snapped. I turned and gave the boy a long, hard glare anyway though.

“Watch your tongue lad,” I growled warningly. “Keep that mouth up and it will get you into a heap of trouble.”

Once all the slavers were chained up properly, we chained them to the wall and stepped outside again. “Whoever is here that is still loyal to Narnia, you are free to come out!” Caspian called. “The slave traders have been dealt with!” We had already gained an audience of peeping eyes, I could see, but slowly, a single door opened and the head of a young man peered out.

“Who are you then?” he queried cautiously. Caspian smiled and opened his arms warmly. “I am Caspian, your king, and these are my friends.”

Silence ensued for a moment, before all around us doors began to open up and people at first slowly, then more numerously, stepped out, and bowed in respect to Caspian, as a slow applause began to build. One citizen, and older woman, approached the young king.

“I beg your pardon, my king, but our friend Lord Bern is in the prison,” she said. “We do not have the keys to release him, will you free him?” Caspian’s eyes widened with recognition of the name. “Of course!” he exclaimed. “Lead the way!”

The woman led us through the growing, now boisterous crowd, growing faster as other people formerly held prisoner in the buildings around us were brought out and set free, and down through the heart of the city. We reached the front of a small building with a heavy wooden door, and opened it. Inside the walls were lined with numerous barred doors, each leading into prison cells. In one sat an aged, ragged looking man.

“Lord Bern?” Caspian asked slowly. The man looked up, flicking his eyes over Caspian, before sighing and looking dejectedly at the floor. “Lord once,” he muttered sadly, “but I am no longer deserving of that title. Look where I sit now.” Caspian walked forward to the door. “I am king Caspian, sir, and I am here to free you and restore you to that title,” he said. The man looked up, slow recognition crawling into his eyes.

“C-Caspian?” he stuttered. “Is it really you?” Said man nodded, replying, “Yes, it is.” “Oh, I am so sorry,” Lord Bern cried as Caspian found the right key and opened the door, and fell to his knees. “I failed you here!” Caspian rushed to him and picked him up. “No my friend, you have done nothing wrong here,” he reassured. “We saw the people who you were forced under, and have dealt with that problem.”

Lord Bern sighed and stood up straight, looking Caspian in the eyes. “No, no, I doubt you have solved all our problems,” he said. “The slave traders were only part of it.”

At that very moment, a rumbling noise accompanied by the shrill cries of frightened people came echoing in from beyond the window of the cell. “What is that?” Edmund asked behind us. “The other source of our problems,” Bern replied. We looked at each other, and rushed to the window, peering out.

Down below, was another dock far below the prison. Nearly to the shore was a wagon full of people, and at the dock sat a boat half full already with others, bound by their hands and unable to run. As we watched, the wagon reached the docks, and more of the slave traders, those who were obviously not in the bell tower, began dragging the people in the wagon onto the boat. Screams of terror sounded.

“Oh no,” I whispered, backing toward the exit. “What?” Caspian and Peter asked together. “I think I know what they’re doing,” I replied, voice rising. “I need to get down there now!” I whipped around and bolted out the door, rounding the corner in the direction of the dock. As I ran, I flared out a pair of mist-colored wings, dropping to all fours as the rest of me transformed as well. I leapt into the air, thrusting my wings downward as I screamed out, <Thorn! Toothless! I need your help now!> and shot toward the harbor.

But, I was already too late. The slave traders had already shoved the boat out onto the water, and that was the cue for the nightmare to awaken. The sky darkened with unnatural low clouds as the boat was caught in a current and raced toward the narrow channel between islands. As I passed over the town and above the harbor, I watched in horror as from out of the ocean bubbled a scene almost right from the movie: a seething, whispering, _living_ greenish mist, but within I could see figures, something within reaching out for the boat. It raced toward them faster than I did.

I glanced up for a split second to spot Thorn, Toothless, and their riders racing toward me from the island beyond, and toward the mist, but they were even further than I was, and the mist wrapped tendrils around the boat, screams of terror echoing from within.

<NNOOOO!!!> I roared, diving down as the boat vanished from sight and the mist began to retreat, firing a vaporous stream of flames at the cloud. If anything, that attack only seemed to alert whatever it was to my presence there, as the apparition-like hands within reached out for me, and the whispering voices seemed to call my name in anger. I dodged the grasping cloud, and it soon faded back into nothing.

The sky began to clear into a blazing sunset again, and the other dragons and Vikings finally reached me. <What on earth was that?> Toothless gasped, panting. <It felt… evil.>

<It was,> I growled back. <Whatever it was, that was pure evil. Demons, I could feel it. But I…I don’t know why they’re here. Come on.> We dove down toward the docks below. I flared my wings, dropping to the ground and transforming back, keeping the wings and tail and pulling out my main sword, pointing it toward the thieves before us.

“I’m in a really bad mood, so I suggest you surrender now, peacefully, or you’ll be unconscious before you can say the word dragon,” I hissed at the momentarily dumfounded slavers. Toothless and Thorn landed behind me, baring their own teeth in a snarl and their riders jumping off and bringing their own weapons to bear.

“What kind of sorcery is this?” one of the slavers exclaimed. “None at all, that’s probably what the mist was,” I replied lowly, leveling my sword at him and stepping forward. “But I am a very ticked off new friend of Narnia.”

The mention of that name was all it took. All the men dove for us, daggers and curved blades flashing out. I raised my sword up, and quickly drove it down into the dirt, sending a bolt of electricity flowing down and arcing across the ground. Raising one hand up, I sent the flow of lighting curling up off the ground in waves and into a crackling wall of electricity, sparking each time someone ran into it trying to stab one of us.

“What is that?!” I suddenly heard from behind me. I turned to see Reepicheep and some of the guards from the boat racing up the streets from the southern harbor where we’d docked. “Nice to see you here to help finally!” I yelled over the crackling electric wall. Turning back to the deadly masterpiece, I sent another wave of energy down the sword, causing a controlled overload and an explosion of light. The nearest bandits were thrown into their allies, temporarily blinded. The wall faded away, and Hiccup and Astrid raced forward, Toothless and Thorn diving in from above, all four delivering blows to the enemies. Behind them came Caspian, the Pevensies, and some of the now-armed villagers.

The battle was short, and ended with most of the slavers knocked out or rendered otherwise unable to fight. I glanced at Hiccup, who was sheathing his sword. “Finally getting some real backbone in one-on-one fights, huh?” I teased. He shrugged. “You can thank Astrid and yourself for that,” he replied, before turning to Astrid. As he did so, though, I caught sight of a long, shallow cut down his left arm. “Oh, Hiccup? Find me on the ship after this so we can take care of that cut,” I said, gesturing to it. He looked down, and nodded.

By now all the town citizens had appeared, most of them racing up to Caspian to figure out what to do with the marauders and the rest of the town. Lord Bern was nowhere in sight, however. I glanced down as Reepicheep came walking up beside me, a knowing look on his face. I knew what he was going to say.

“So you only talk to dragons, eh?” he said rhetorically. I shrugged. “I never said only. So I’m different from everyone else, what about it?” Reepicheep shook his head. “Oh, nothing, nothing, but, um, I get the feeling Eustace is probably not very fond of it.” I snorted. “What else is new?”

Reep readied a reply, before I heard my name being called. I turned to see Caspian walking toward me. “Hawken, might you have any idea what that fog, or whatever it was, might have been??” he asked. “You seem to know more than you let on, and the citizens here are very concerned about their missing friends.” I shrugged in reply. “Unfortunately, I have no more real answers than you do,” I said. “But, if it’s anything like what I’ve watched back home, and chances are it’s at least similar, I have a feeling we just watched evil in a physical form.” He nodded warily, the statement doing nothing to calm his nerves.

“Anything else you might be able to tell us?” he asked hopefully. “The villagers say many of their family members have been sent off to it, and they’re looking for any piece of hope.” I shrugged dejectedly. “Look, in the movie I saw they were found at the end, but not everything happens the same, and it’s often only been a similar parallel. Nothing I know is concrete if it hasn’t happened already. But, if there is an answer, we may find it further to the west.”

We all began to head back toward the harbor we had docked at, and on the way we found many, many helping hands, willing to find supplies or help with repairs for us. Whatever it was that had taken the one boat, it apparently had been around for some time, and everyone wanted to help us so that we could possibly find answers.

“Caspian, my lord!” came a voice behind us suddenly. We all turned to see Lord Bern heading for us, with a heavily salt-encrusted sword in his hands. “Before you leave,” he called, presenting it to Caspian, “take this as a gift from us.”

Peer stepped out from the group to look at the weapon. “This looks familiar,” he mused. Bern nodded. “It probably is. This sword is over 300 years old, one of the seven swords that was gifted to the kings and queens at Cair Paravel, as a symbol of protection.” He nodded to the coast of the island, further to the north. “I’ve kept it safe in a cave over the years, and who knows, it may help you find the secrets you will be searching for.” Peter took the sword as Caspian handed it to him, and nodded. “Thank you,” he said, while in the background we heard Eustace scoff at what he saw as a ridiculous ritual.

For the next five minutes however, I stayed silent, chills running up and down my spine. A lot of this was certainly far too familiar, very similar to the movie from home, but something was different. We were in for a wild ride, I knew, and this was just the start, but there was something under the surface too, something I could feel was waiting, just waiting, for one of us to slip up.


	8. Sword Lessons

We set sail again early the next day, the ship filled to the brim with supplies, and crew members determined to figure out what it was that now plagued not only the Lone Islands but possibly any land upon the ocean. All of us were determined, that is, save for one Eustace the hard-headed.

“You’re all mad, you are.” “Eustace, shut your mouth or I’ll shut it for you, permanently,” Camicazi snapped. The gang was all below deck, resting with the dragons as the ship sailed forward on a favoring wind. Eustace was glaring at us from the doorway to the room.

“Well, at least I have some sense of personal safety,” he quipped. “I don’t go around sleeping next to a bunch of murderous reptiles.” He leveled his glare at me in particular. “And you’re the worst of them all!” I glared back at him. “How so? Just because I’m part dragon?” I snarked. He nodded. “Yes, exactly! A person should be a person, nothing else! Most people consider being able to turn into a monster to be a bad thing.”

Camicazi had finally had enough of his complaining. She jumped up and threw a knife over Eustace’s head. He yelped in surprise and ducked as it buried itself into the wall behind him. “Shut your mouth and leave. Now,” she growled, the threatening tone impossible to miss even by someone like Eustace. The boy at least has a little common sense, though, so he wisely scuttled down the hallway and disappeared to bother someone else. Cami walked over and grabbed the dagger out of the wall, slamming the door behind her as she spun around and stomped back over to where she was sitting earlier.

“To be perfectly honest, and don’t you dare tell anyone else,” she warned, sitting down next to Stormfly again, “I don’t know how much longer I can actually deal with him.” I laughed in response.

“Oh, the master of quick wits has finally met her match, has she?” I teased. She glared at me. “I don’t take lightly to others talking down about my friends. That’s my job. And he’s about to push me to the point where I may well strangle him.”

Stormfly lowered her head next to Cami, looking at her comfortingly. “Well, he’s done nothing but complain as of yet, save for that one incident,” she reminded. “It’s not like he’s actually got the capability to hurt any of us.” I sighed, leaning against the wall. “I don’t know about that,” I said. “He’s a bit of a loose cannon. It could well be just a matter of time, unless someone does knock some sense into him.” We all just glanced at the now closed doorway, and sighed.

It wasn’t just us, either, that Eustace was making mad. Hiccup and I both received a huge number of complaints all day from Snotlout and Thuggory, due to Eustace’s arrogant taunting about their intelligence (and Snotlout’s restriction on just hitting people to solve the problem). Hiccup, too, seemed about ready to nail him to a wall.

“He absolutely will not leave me alone about Toothless,” he snapped. I nodded in agreement. “It’s probably the black color and his green eyes,” I commented. “That and, of course, the fact that he’s a dragon.” Hiccup threw his hands up in the air in exasperation. “Oh, it’s not just that he thinks Toothless looks mean. He’s actually managed to convince himself all the dragons are somehow plotting against us too. He thinks the cute looks they give are just guises instead of the gentle creatures they actually are. Of all the stupid, bullheaded……”

He ranted for a minute or two while I just shrugged in reply. “Look, it’s all well and good to complain about the complainer, Hiccup,” I noted, “but unfortunately right now I know of only one real way to get him to stop it, and something tells me that Eustace would really hate going on a ride.” Hiccup scoffed. “As if any of the dragons would even think of letting him get on them.”

Eustace had also built up a rather nasty habit of getting in people’s way. He had the same skill Hiccup once did, of always being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Already multiple times he had run directly into Caspian, me, a number of crewmen, and even his own cousins. And was there even an apology after he came barreling around a corner or up the stairs? Nope, of course not. All he gave in response would be to yell at _us_ to “Watch where you’re going!” with the same response coming from the other party. It was only a matter of time, we all knew, before he would end up doing something really, really dumb.

* * *

We were right. A few days later, as he tired of having only the rations we all shared, Eustace finally went overboard on his bad ideas. Not literally mind you, though that would have given great satisfaction to many of us.

I came up to the top deck to help move some baskets out of the way, and out of the corner of my eye I spotted Eustace on his way down toward the kitchen. However, it was nowhere near lunchtime, and he wasn’t exactly being open about it, glancing around to see if anyone had noticed him and slinking along the wall. As soon as he passed through the doorway and down the stairs, I morphed into a miniature Ampithere and slithered down after him, expecting to catch him in the act.

Big surprise, he went down there for food. I watched from behind a barrel of flour as Eustace looked around the supply room, checking on occasion to see if anyone was coming. When he didn’t see anyone, he quickly knelt down and pulled out an orange from the basket he stood by and stuffed it into his shirt.

“ARE you aware,” a voice chimed in loudly, making Eustace jump, “stealing rations is a capital offense at sea?” I looked up, but didn’t see anyone right away, though I knew whose voice that was. Eustace did the same, frantically searching for the source. “Up here,” it came again, and Reepicheep stepped into view on a shelf above Eustace’s head.

“Oh, it’s you,” Eustace sniveled. Reep crossed his arms in reply. “Men have been killed for less before, don’t you know,” he quipped. “And you’re getting into enough trouble as it is.” Eustace stuffed his hands innocently into his pockets and started shuffling toward the door. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he muttered. My eyebrows furrowed, and I slithered out into view, blocking the entrance.

“I do,” I hissed. “I’ve been here the whole time, it’s not like you’re going to just walk away after stealing food.” Eustace froze and glared between the two of us Reepicheep jumped down onto a nearby barrel and put out his paw. “Look, just hand me the orange, and we’ll let the matter pass.” As his tail came forward to grab the orange as well, Eustace finally snapped a little, grabbing onto it to stop Reep from moving any further forward. Ignoring my snickering, he snapped, “Look, I’ve had quite enough of the both of you, so-“

His words died as Reepicheep took in a sharp breath and pulled out his sword, leveling it at the boy. “Put the tail down,” he said lowly, “No one, I repeat no one, touches my tail.” Eustace opened his hand, letting Reep go and backing away slowly. “Sorry, sorry!” he squeaked, but the damage had already been done. I smirked again and slid forward, grabbing a large knife and thrusting the handle into Eustace’s hand. “You’ll need it,” I replied to his confused and concerned look, and nodded back to Reep, who smiled. “Yes, now, I will have the orange back, and then I will have satisfaction!”

Eustace shook his head. “No please, I’m a pacifist!” But Reep didn’t care, thrusting his sword forward with an “En guard!” Eustace jumped backward and bolted for the door, for once not caring that he had to jump over me to get there. I grinned and moved out of the way, gesturing with my tail to Reep. “After you!” Reep grinned back and ran out, followed by me last of all.

Eustace dove between two crewmen and ran along the side of the ship. Reepicheep jumped up and grabbed a loose rope, swinging up past Eustace. “Trying to run away?” he joked. “You are on a boat, you know. The ship’s only so big.” He landed on a barrel in front of the boy and held his sword out at ready. “En guard!” he shouted again. Eustace sloppily backpedaled and tried to block Reep’s strike, his arms flailing ridiculously.

“Stop flapping like a drunken seagull!” the mouse snapped, jumping up to the railing. “It’s all about poise! Sword up, arms loose, but firm and at the ready!”

“So, what’s going on here?” I heard behind me. I turned to see Hiccup and Cami walking up onto the deck. “Oh, Reep’s punishing Eustace for stealing an orange,” I drawled, gesturing to the orange that had by now fallen out of Eustace’s shirt as he ran, “and giving him an impromptu and badly needed sword-fighting lesson at the same time.”

Reep was getting the better of Eustace, naturally, snapping the tip of his sword at the boy’s ankles, while Eustace found an entirely new reason to get up in arms and complain: getting picked on by a “rat.” However, he was finally actually starting to try and fight back against Reep, managing to block a blow every now and then. At that point, I decided I didn’t want the mouse to have all the fun, and stepped forward, morphing back to human.

“Hey Reep!” I called, grinning. He jumped out of the way of Eustace’s swing, and glanced up at me. I pulled out the team sword I had (the one whose design was shared by Hiccup, Astrid, and Cami), and gestured to Eustace. “Mind if I take a turn?” He chuckled and nodded, moving out of the way, Eustace missing our short chat and following him.

“Hey, Eustace, over here,” I called, and he turned to focus on me, before blanching pale. “Oh no, no, no no no no no no,” he whined, backing up and losing the motivation he’d built up against Reepicheep. I nodded and replied mockingly, “Oh yes, yes, yes yes yes yes yes yes!” I lifted my sword up. “Despite how little I really like you, I agree you need to learn a few basic skills anyway, especially since you’re stuck with us. Sword up!” He nervously brought his sword to face mine, and I swung in a purposefully slow arc toward him. “Follow my lead: Strike! Block! Slide! Block! Parry! No, other side. Block! Down, block, lift, stroke, swing, block side block side parry strike block down block strike!” As I ordered what to do slowly at first, he followed and, as I started going faster, so did he. I stopped for a moment and stepped back. “Now, come after me, try to catch me off guard!” I commanded. He raised an eyebrow, pensive, but swung his knife at me anyway.

I blocked all his moves, of course, but Eustace was getting better slowly, a fast learner. Eventually, I decided to turn him back over to Reepicheep, spinning around behind him and grabbing the arm he held his knife in, and pointing it toward the mouse. “Now try it again,” I suggested, stepping back into the crowd that had grown around us.

Reep led Eustace around the deck, plying in and out of the ropes and baskets, still taunting him the whole way. But this time, Eustace looked a slight bit less pathetic about the whole thing, managing to catch Reep a couple times and throw him off balance, but the mouse had been at this for much longer, and even after pretending to fall off the ship, he got the better of him, swinging around the side and kicking Eustace into me. “And that, is that!” he crowed as I grabbed Eustace’s sword arm again and easily removed the weapon.

“Always face your opponent,” I said. “Never let them get behind you.” Eustace pursed his lips for a moment, but then nodded. “Well, had I been matched against someone closer to my size instead of Reep, it would have been an entirely different result,” he muttered back. I laughed in response. “Indeed. You would have ended up on the ground or knocked over a basket, just a few minutes later.” Eustace groaned and glared at me. “How do you figure that? I wasn’t that bad was I?” I smiled as I turned away. “Oh, I have my ways of knowing. Though it looks like we may have a chance at making a swordsman of you yet!”

I returned the makeshift sword back to its original location, as well as the AWOL orange, and found Hiccup still on the deck. “Tell me, must you always show off when these things happen?” he prodded. I just shrugged. “Eh, it’s more fun that way. Besides, it’s not like either of us actually went over the top with him.”

“LAND HO!”

We both jerked and looked up at the lookout above us. I raised an eyebrow, and muttered, “Already?” Hiccup glanced at me. “What, do you know where we are?” I shrugged again. “Possibly. The next stop in the movie was a magician’s island.” “Magician’s island? What do you mean? I thought magicians were a bad thing.” I smiled. “Well, depends on if he’s actually a magician or not. I could be totally wrong here. But, hopefully there’s nothing to worry about, we’ll see.”


	9. Concealed

It looked like nothing more than a lush, tropical volcanic isle. There was a massive, beach-lined bay that stretched across the side we were approaching, and numerous hills rose up in the distance, beyond the first band of trees.

“It looks uninhabited,” Peter muttered, staring out at it over the railing. Caspian shrugged and replied, “Not many people have been this far east. It may very well be untouched.” Toothless came out from below, eyes darting from one side to the other, like he was expecting some sort of surprise, and stood next to me, looking over the water as well. <There’s something strange about this place,> he crooned. <I’m getting a feeling that there’s something powerful here, something we’re not seeing right now.> I shrugged. <Not seeing, almost certainly. But I can feel something too, power from somewhere.>

“Caspian, should we take boats ashore?” Susan called out, as she was standing near the prow while we stayed by the side of the ship. “If there’s food to be had, we should gather some while we’re here. No reason to start running low.” Caspian peered at the island, as if squinting would help him see something he couldn’t already, then glanced up toward the slowly setting sun. “We’ll spend the night ashore,” he finally decided, “then we’ll look for food or possibly signs of the other lords passing through tomorrow.”

“You’re kidding right?” We all groaned as Eustace poked his head out of the door that led toward his room below. “What, you’re complaining about me,” he griped, “when were all now planning to sleep ashore on an unexplored, uncharted island with no idea of what’s there, or if it might be dangerous?”

Susan sighed and glared at her cousin. “It’s nothing any of the rest of us haven’t done before, Eustace,” she tiredly returned, “and we’ve never really come out for worse.” “There’s always a first time,” Eustace muttered darkly. I groaned and threw my hands up in the air in exasperation. “Oh, come on, relax Eustace!” I snapped. “We have dragons with us, and I’m probably the scariest thing out here anyway!” Eustace glared at me in response. “And that’s supposed to make me feel better about this situation, is it?” he queried. “That you’ll be out here with us?”

“Eustace, shut up,” warned Edmund. He turned to face Caspian, whom he stood next to. “Should we set out, since we’ve nothing else to take care of on board at the moment?” Caspian nodded in agreement and glanced at the captain. “Drinian, load up the rowboats. We’re heading ashore.”

* * *

The island was very, very quiet, far too quiet for such a lush place. Barely a birdcall was heard every now and then through the trees. After the camp was set up on the beach, and it was confirmed we could see anything that might come out of the brush at us, Toothless, Hiccup, and I took a temporary leave and set out on a flight around the island to scout the terrain.

“This is weird,” Hiccup said. “And I mean weirder than just our normal lives. I don’t see anything but plants down there, not even butterflies or beetles moving around.” <Not a bird or even any smaller reptiles,> Toothless added in agreement. We all glided down toward the forest and into the trees, landing gently on the ground and I morphed into a Viperwyrm so as to move around through the brush silently (think of your average venomous snake, but with a dragon’s tail and ridges on the head, colored in diamonds of red and brown), and climbed silently up into the nearest tree.

“See anything?” Hiccup called as I slithered into the canopy. “Ssshhhhh!” I hissed, trying to convey I needed quiet, and perked up my miniscule ears to listen to the habitat. All around me, there were faint rustlings in the leaves and a short period after the forest quieted from Hiccup’s yell, I caught the sound of a nearby cricket beginning to chirp. Silently, slowly, I followed the sound to a large leaf lying across the base of another tree, and carefully I slipped the tip of my tail under it and flicked it up.

The sound of something small jumping across the forest floor replaced the chirping, and I saw leaves shake and scatter slightly, but no visible insect appeared. Quickly, I slithered back to Hiccup and Toothless and morphed Night Fury again. “Well, there are living animals here, but even sneaking up on them I can’t see them at all,” I reported. “So, they’re really good at camouflaging?” Hiccup queried. I shook my head. “Not unless they’re better at camouflaging than a Changewing is,” I said. “No, they’re invisible, like a Shadow Lord is. An I’m betting it’s not just the cricket I found, but everything on the island.”

SNAP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

All three of us spun to face the sudden sounds echoing through the trees, but as expected, nothing showed up. “Let’s get back to the others,” I suggested quietly. Both my friends nodded, and we shot upward and back to the camp on the beach.

“See anything?” Peter asked as we landed. I flared my wings and dropped, changing fully human as I did so. “Not see, per se, but we did find something,” I replied. “What do you mean?”

“The creatures here are invisible,” Hiccup explained, “or if not, ridiculously see-through.”

“And we’re staying on the beach?!” Eustace asked incredulously. “Please tell me this is enough to put some sense into your heads!” “Just because we can’t see them doesn’t mean that anything that tries to jump us can’t burn anyway,” Stormfly said, raising her head up from the sand.

“I’d bet they’ll still give off heat,” I said, giving the gold dragon a glare at her unnecessarily morbid comment. “And that’s something certain dragons won’t miss.” To emphasize my point, my eyes changed to a bright azure, and suddenly everything around me began to glow various shades of red and blue.

Caspian cleared his throat and nodded. “Well, if you think you have a way of seeing them, then you can keep guard for now,” he said. Eustace groaned in reply as he turned to the other crew. “Everyone else? Keep your ears open for anything that could be dangerous.”

* * *

Evening arrived rather quickly, and while everyone else gathered around the campfire they built, I sat some distance away staring into the forest. I couldn’t look at the flames as the infrared light would blind the eyes I wore at the time, but I could watch the movements of the faint reddish dots that signified small insects or other scurrying animals in the brush. I hadn’t sat there for long before Camicazi and Thuggory came to sit by me.

“Aren’t you two wanting to enjoy the fire?” I questioned lightly. They both shrugged. “It’s quieter over here,” Thuggory said. “Plus, we can actually see the stars if we’re in the dark here,” Cami added. I glanced at her, surprised. “I didn’t know you fancied being a stargazer,” I toned.

She laughed. “Hey, not everything I do has to be tough and Vikingly, does it? Besides,” she continued, “this is a strange sky to me. We travel a lot, but never this far south.” She pointed up at a group of stars that appeared to spiral around each other. “That’s a constellation I’ve never seen.”

“Kind of looks like your forehead,” Thuggory teased, elbowing me lightly in the side. “Ha ha,” I quipped back, and we laughed before going silent for a few minutes, doing exactly what Cami had mentioned: staring up at the stars.

“Think anything big is going to happen?” Thuggory finally said. “I hope not,” I sighed, “ but I’ve had the bad feeling that we’re probably walking into a problem since we arrived. That mist at the Lone Islands was definitely not natural, that was demonic in origin.” I looked at both of them, a serious expression worn. “And, don’t tell any of the Narnians just yet, but I fear it’s searching for us. Certainly, I’ve felt something following us.”

That got both of them jumpy, but there wasn’t much I could do about it either. “Hey, calm down,” I said, trying at least. “There’s always a battle in life, and unfortunately to get past some of them you have to walk right into them. We’ll get through it.”

Eventually though, the crew began to drop off, followed by the Vikings, lying down next to the rocks scattering the beach for a little more protection. I continued to keep vigil as all the fires and the lanterns slowly went out one by one, save for Lucy’s. Big surprise, she was lying on her mat, reading a book. I sauntered over and climbed up on the nearest rock and peered down at the novel in her hands, and almost immediately recognized the story written there: by Jules Verne, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

“How far you got to?” I asked. Lucy jumped a little and looked up in surprise, before seeing me and relaxing. “Oh, not very far yet,” she replied.

“Past the pearl diver and the shark yet?”

She looked at me somewhat confused. “You know this book?” I laughed. “Oh, it’s a classic, apparently in more than just my world.” Lucy smiled. “Well, it’s pretty good so far, though I’ve got a long ways to go. It was one of the few books in the pack I had when we washed up here, but I haven’t had a chance to read much.” She glanced around, noticing everyone around was already asleep. “Though, it may have to wait a little longer, as I should probably get to sleep. Good night, Hawken.”

I waved goodbye with my tail as she lay down, and headed off again to watch the forest’s edge. “You’re in good hands,” I whispered to no one in particular, setting down to stare into the dark.

The night dragged on, and as even the moon began to drag toward the horizon, I began to slowly feel the tendrils of sleep tugging at me, but as nothing unusual happened the whole time I watched, I found it harder and harder to fight the urge to rest my head on my paws. “Go to sleep already,” my mind seemed to whisper, with the rhythms of slow songs and rhymes seeping through my head as fatigue took its toll on my focus and body. “Nothing is out here but the bugs. There’s no danger, it’s safe to have some shuteye.” I nodded in agreement with myself, finding it finally too hard to hold my head up. With one last look around, spotting nothing new glowing in the trees, I finally lay my head down and fell fast asleep.

* * *

The figure smiled in pleasure. With the half-dragon finally sleeping like a log, that part of his plan had been effective, and there was one less obstacle in the way of their entire purpose, at least for what was left of the night. “Sleep well, little pest,” it hissed, the shape of its body fading out of recognition and remaining only as a hint of greenish fog, before drifting fully out of sight into the air.


	10. Revealed

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

Huge footprints formed, as something heavy moved away from an unseen forest trail and toward the sleeping group, sand indenting loudly as the apparitions moved otherwise quietly. Suddenly the prints ended, and a not-so-quiet “Ssshhh!” echoed across the beach. No one stirred, however.

“Stay quiet!” A voice whispered. “Don’t wake the beasts there.” The prints began again, moving away from the sleeping dragons and toward the people on the sand instead.

SSNNNNNXXXX!!!!

An impossibly loud snore escaped from Eustace, drawing the attention of the unseen visitors. “Seems they’ve brought a bit of a pig,” a new voice whispered nearby the snoring teen. The prints moved away and came toward where Camicazi and Lucy had chosen to sleep. “There are girls here!” The first voice whispered again. The book Lucy had been reading the night before floated upward and slowly opened, pages riffling through the air as they were turned by unseen hands. “This one is a reader,” the book holder said. “We’ll take her!”

The book was dropped to the ground, and Lucy replaced it, suddenly being yanked into the air, feet dangling as an invisible hand clamped onto her mouth. She jerked awake and looked around, seeing no one as she began struggling against her abductor, but her actions were to no avail. With the hand over her mouth no one could hear her yelling, and her kidnapper disappeared with her back into the forest.

Branches whipped by, pushed out of the way as Lucy floated through them, some of them smacking her in the face as she tried to pull the strong hand away from her face. A clearing opened up in front of her, the thick forest ending and replaced with seemingly cut grass and sculpted bushes. Here, the being carrying Lucy dropped her, and she fell clumsily to the ground, rolling a couple times before she got her wits about her again.

Lucy pulled out her dagger from the belt she always wore and stood up, thinking she was ready if her assailants came again. Too late, however, for the dagger was wrenched from her grasp and thrown to the side, far out of her reach. She jumped for it, but something hit her in the chest, knocking her breath away and throwing her back from the weapon.

“Don’t go after it!” a voice warned. Lucy spun to look for the source, glancing around, but of course seeing nothing.

“Who are you?” she queried nervously. “Inhabitants of the island,” came the gruff reply. “We are in need of your assistance, and will receive it.” Lucy raised a skeptical eyebrow. “And what happens if I don’t comply?”

“You will help, or death!” The threat was echoed by the sudden arrival of numerous other voices, all chanting that word. Lucy gathered up her courage and snapped back, “Well I wouldn’t be much use to you dead, now would I?”

There was a moment of silence, and she thought she’d won, before the gruff voice answered. “Very well. If you don’t help you may never see your friends on the beach again.” Lucy chuckled against her better judgment. “You’d be roasted by the dragons before you’d be able to touch them.” “They can’t see us.” “Maybe not, but there is a friend of mine here who can, and he is on that beach. He’s more dangerous than the dragons.”

A sigh came from the invisible voice. “We just need you to do one thing for us, and then you are free to go,” it said. Lucy crossed her arms again anyway. “And what is this thing you need of me?”

Footsteps led toward the center of the large clearing. “You are to enter the Oppressor’s house, and find the mechanism that will make the unseen, seen.” Lucy arched an eyebrow in confusion, and looked around. “Uh, what house?” “This one,” the voice replied again, followed by the sound of a creaking door. A rift of light appeared in the air, and widened to reveal a room that seemed to open out of nothing. Lucy stepped back in apprehension.

“Why don’t you do it yourself?” she asked. “You seem to know what it is you’re looking for.” There was an uncomfortable silence, before the voice replied sullenly, “We can’t read.” “Can’t write either as a matter of fact,” another voice added. Lucy’s expression softened. “Then why didn’t you just say so?”

“We were afraid you would just say no,” the apparent leader replied again. “We need someone who can read the labels on the mechanisms, we don’t know which one, button or lever or other things in the house.” Lucy nodded. “Very well, I’ll help.” She turned to the door before the voice stopped her again.

“Beware the Oppressor! He’s very oppressive!” The girl didn’t have an answer for that, so instead she slowly turned to the door again and stepped through. The door closed again, appearing once more as if nothing were out of the ordinary.

* * *

“Hawken, wake up!”

I felt a hand shake at my shoulder, and the owner of the voice sounded less-than-pleased. I groaned and sat up slowly, feeling oddly drowsy, and opened my eyes. Immediately I had to close them again as I had not changed my sight back to normal and the heat now radiating off the sand even in the early morning blinded me with infrared light. Slowly I opened them again, vision adjusting to the high infrared levels, and I glanced up at Peter, who had been the one to wake me.

“What is it?” “You were supposed to be the one on lookout. Lucy’s gone,” he said. I jolted up, and looked over at the rest of our group. So far, it appeared Peter was the only one up, but I could easily see the signs that something else had been here: pairs of massive prints through the sand. Strangely, though, the dragons were all also still fast asleep and I knew no one who was a lighter sleeper than Stormfly. There was also a beastly noise emanating from Eustace.

“Get the others up,” I said. “Something else is going on here; at least one of the dragons should have woken up from any noises that came through.” I ran over to where the dragons all lay, no longer feeling drowsy. Sucking in a breath, I yelled out, “WAKE UP!!”

All the dragons jolted awake at that, but they acted extremely groggy as they stood up. <Wha-what is it?> Toothless grumbled, stretching and yawning, nearly hitting me in the face with a wing in the process. “Lucy’s gone, something took her. And what’s with all of you? I know you can be lazy at times but I’ve never seen a dragon look so out of it.”

<I don’t know,> Thorn rumbled in reply, <but I feel like I was drugged.>

That’s when it hit me: the voice I’d heard last night in my head wasn’t me. Something else was trying to put me to sleep, and it succeeded. “Everyone get up! We may have trouble!” All the dragons complied, and I could see Peter waking the others up as well. Once Caspian was up, he took one look at the prints in the sand, and started in that direction. “Everyone follow when you can, she may be in trouble and we can’t waste a second!” he explained. Those of us who were up fell in behind him, dragons flanking us as we walked along the path, and soon it appeared almost the whole group was together. At that point, no one really noticed we had in fact left one person behind. Not that anyone probably cared either.

Caspian burst into the clearing and glanced around, the rest of us fanning out into the area. “Over here!” Thuggory yelled, drawing our attention. We rushed over and, sure enough, there was Lucy’s dagger, lying in the short grass. “But…where is she now?” Edmund queried. Not that we had an answer. “And why would she leave her dagger behind?” Susan echoed. I looked around, but didn’t see anything yet. “I don’t think she did leave it,” I muttered. “And she may still be nearby, can’t forget everything seems to be invisible here.”

A movement to one side caught my eye, a brief flash of infrared. I spun around, but whatever it was had hidden behind the bushes again. “Hey guys,” I warned, “we’re not alone here.”

SSSHHEEEEWWWW!!! THUNK! THUNK! THUNK!

Everyone jolted and backed into a circle as huge spears appeared out of nowhere and sunk into the ground at our feet. A figure, then another, and another, visible only as infrared images, jumped out from the bushes, more spears and other odd, blunt weapons in their hands. “Stop right there, and don’t move!” the tallest image yelled.

Unsurprisingly, everyone instead drew out swords or other weapons, only for the …creatures, whatever they were, to jump forward and smack the weapons down with the padded club looking things they held. I did a double-take as one headed for me, and the infrared image became clear: there were two of them, one standing on the other, both with 2 massive, kangaroo-size feet, but otherwise looking just like a short person. As the one on top reached for my swords, I ducked out of the way. Confusion etched across the blurred image I saw of its face, but it tried again.

This time, I rolled to the side, drew my sword, and knocked the creature’s club from its hands. The one I faced looked at the taller, seemingly bearded one that had spoken and squealed, “He can see us!” “The girl was telling the truth!” Well, that confirmed who took Lucy.

Caspian glanced my way. “You can?” I nodded. “They’re not fully invisible; they still glow infrared like everything else I’ve seen here.” Turning to the bearded one, assuming he was the leader since all the others were looking to him, I walked up and pointed my drawn sword at him. “Alright, where’s our friend Lucy?” I snapped.

He looked down at me, seemingly having gotten over the shock of my being able to see them, and pointed the spear-like weapon he had at me. “Why is it important to you?” “Because she’s my sister, for one!” Edmund snapped. “And she’s a queen,” Caspian added. The little man just laughed. “Ha! She is on a mission for us, and shan’t return until she’s finished!”

Unbeknownst to them, the creatures suddenly began to glow a little brighter to my eyes, before color began to seep into view. I grinned, stepping back and relaxing my eyes, switching them back to normal vision. Something had just happened to make these weirdoes visible again, and I suspected it had to do with Lucy as well.

“Ah, look, he’s afraid of us now!” the big one laughed, taking my moving back as a sign of nervousness, and not realizing everyone could see them now. “Now leave us alone, or we shall beat you with our massive fists!” “And claw you to death!” another yelled. “And I’ll gnash you with my teeth!”

All of this sounded perfectly ridiculous now that we could see them clearly, and naturally I heard Camicazi and some of the others snickering. “Oh, let me guess: you’ll squash us with your fat bellies,” Caspian threw back, smiling as well. The bearded one nodded. “Yes, we’ll-wait, what?” “Tickle us with your toes?” Edmund added in, gaining the attention and protests of the little people. As they did so I walked around behind the bearded one, reached up, and gently pushed him from behind.

“Whoa, whooooaahhhh!” He wavered back and forth, arms wind-milling, and as I stepped out of the way he and the one he was standing on both came tumbling down to the ground. Right away, Peter, Susan, and Thuggory grabbed their swords off the ground and stepped forward, surrounding the bearded one and aiming the points at him.

“Now where’s our sister, you little pipsqueak?” Edmund growled. “You’d better tell him, chief!” one of the other dwarfish creatures nearby whimpered. The apparent chief began sputtering. “N-now, calm-calm down,” he stammered. “She’s not in-in any real danger-“ “Where is she?!” Edmund interrupted loudly. The chief glanced to the side momentarily. “In the mansion.”

Naturally, we all looked around. “What mansion?” Cami asked.

As if in response, there was a sudden rumbling noise, like a large machine coming to life, and the air nearby shimmered. Colors appeared in midair as a huge house began to take form. “I would guess that mansion,” Stormfly drawled. “Out of curiosity, you guys got any other tricks we’ve yet to see?”

“You know, I’m really getting tired of you all leaving me behi-“ We all turned to see Eustace, finally awake, stumbling out of the forest in our direction. He cut himself off as he froze, looking around at the inhabitants we’d found. “It’s the pig!” one of them said, eliciting a snicker from the twins.

"Well, this place just keeps getting weirder and weirder,” Eustace mumbled. “Is he calling us weird?” one of the “bigfeet” griped back. I smirked. “Nice to see you’re still alive,” I called over. Eustace just replied with a death glare.

“The Oppressor!” the little dwarves screeched suddenly, one of them echoing the rest as they all suddenly began hopping away from the mansion. We all turned in response to see a man in a flowing robe step out of the door of the house. Right behind him, perfectly unharmed and smiling, was our lost companion. “Lucy!” Susan yelled, running up and hugging her sister as the man continued forward. The “chief” of the little dwarves began backing away from the man.

“You’ve wronged us, magician!” he accused. “I have not wronged you, I wished to protect you,” the man replied in a tired-sounding tone, still advancing toward the little annoyances. “Well you could have, if you wanted to!” the little chief said again.

The man sighed in annoyance and apparently had enough. Reaching into his pocket, he threw a handful of white fluff at the creatures with a statement of “Be gone!” All of them yelped and began leaping away on their big feet, back-flipping and vaulting over bushes and trees. “Run!” “It’s a spell!” “He’ll do it again!” “Run away!”

As they all passed by Eustace, he turned and asked, “What was that you threw at them? And what were those things?” The man smirked in reply. “Lint, but don’t tell them that. And they are the Dufflepuds, the main inhabitants of this island.” Eustace threw up his hands. “Of course, silly me.” The man chuckled. “They’re a race of dwarves if that helps explain anything.”

Then he turned and bowed to Caspian. “I am Coriakin, the owner of this mansion. You must be King Caspian.” Caspian looked at him with a shocked expression. “How do you know me?” Coriakin smiled gently. “I am still a Narnian, I know a great deal about the goings on in this region. That, and your friend here told me.” He gestured to Lucy.

Then, unexpectedly, he turned to me. “She did not, however, tell me of you,” he said, looking between me and Hiccup. “I do believe you two are Hawken Carlton and Hiccup Haddock, yes?” Now it was our turn to be shocked, and all we could do was nod. “You two are well known now among the seers of this world,” Coriakin continued, “and those who have been given God’s gifts, like myself. You’re meant to do many great things together.” He laughed at our perplexed faces, and turned toward the mansion, gesturing for us to follow him. “Come, all of you, there is much I must show you.”

As we walked, I glanced at Hiccup, who shared my odd look, and we watched as Ruffnut ran up to Coriakin. I was surprised how little her and Tuffnut had spoken on this trip at all. “What did the, uh, Duf-Dufflepuds mean by you having wronged them?” she asked as we entered the house. Coriakin nodded. “I built a machine that uses light waves and dark energy to make living things invisible to most eyes. I’ve been using it on the creatures of this island for some time, and while they believe it was to spite them,” he explained, “I thought it was the best way to protect them.” “Protect them from what?” Tuff piped up. “From the evil,” Coriakin replied simply.

“Evil?” I asked, walking up the stairs he traversed. “Do you mean that mist or whatever it is that we’ve been sort of looking for?” Coriakin shook his head grimly. “No, I mean what lies behind it, the source of the mist,” he said, turning down the hallway and opening a door. “I believe it is a group of demonic spirits, come together. They were sent by the devil himself to corrupt this region. The mist is only a visible guise, to frighten wayward sailors and to build up fear and rumors. They’re planning something far worse.”

As we entered the room, most of our group becoming entranced by the holographic images floating around the shelves of books, Coriakin pointed at me. “With you being from both another world as well as one of the new guardians, handed a gift from God himself, you have become a prime target.” He gestured then to everyone. “But all of you are good people,” he said, “even your companions behind you, so your entire crew is in danger.” He walked over to a table on the side of the room, and grabbed a large roll of paper. Coming back to us, he threw it outward, and it unrolled in midair, floating on an unseen field. Upon the paper pictures of familiar lands appeared along the edges, and the center became a living map of the island we stood on, complete with a three-dimensional hologram extending upward.

“There’s something you can’t do,” Cami whispered mockingly to me. “Try me,” I shot back. Meanwhile, everyone else was mesmerized by the moving holograms. “For a make-believe map of a make-believe world, it’s rather impressive,” Eustace commented.

“The mist originates from an island to the west of here,” Coriakin said, drawing our attention to where he stood _on_ the map. He pointed to one end, and the map shifted around his feet. A glowing blue dot appeared. “We call this the blue star; it is a messenger, a guide. Follow it to Romandil’s Island,” he said, a massive-looking island appearing as the map continued shifting west. “Here is where I also sent the other six lords you seek, Caspian.” Said person stepped forward. “So they did pass through here,” he commented. Coriakin nodded. “Yes, and furthermore, the sword you carry, Edmund, is one of a set of seven, set with a power nearly 900 years ago. That power was split between the swords by the enemy in an attempt to destroy it.” He pointed to the island, which zoomed in to a massive table in the center. “Find all the swords, and lay them on the stone table here. The demons are using some sort of mineral catalyst for part of their plan, and if the swords are placed in their proper location the power inlaid within them will negate that catalyst, and break the spell they have laid.” He looked up and around the room at each of us.

“I must warn you, though, the source of the evil is not far,” he said, and the map shifted again to reveal a spidery, horrid spit of land that glowed with darkness. “They have taken Dark Island, only a stone’s throw from Romandil. They will do everything in their power to tempt you to follow the wrong path.” Coriakin stepped down from the map. “They will most certainly also go after you,” he said, looking at the dragons.

<Us? They know about us?> Thorn queried. <If they know about people of course they know about us,> Toothless muttered back.

“Demons prey on weaknesses within,” Coriakin continued on, “and will find anything that makes you doubt. They will take any form; become your deepest fears or your deepest desires. They will make you fall in any way they can.” He looked directly at Peter and Edmund. “Stay strong, for you must defeat the evils within you before you can take on those outside of you. Do not fall to temptation.”

* * *

We had our warning. The day dragged on more peacefully after that. Coriakin helped us make sure we had the supplies we needed, and we stayed to have dinner there that night. The next morning saw us off, and before long Coriakin’s island and the Dufflepuds (who showed up once more before we left) were long out of sight. The day was beautiful, with a strong westward wind filling the sails and making travel easy, and even Eustace managed to be relatively cooperative.

By evening, however, the distinct feeling of being watched had come over me, and more noticeably the other Vikings as they all began to fidget uncomfortably and glance around, and on the horizon dark clouds had gathered into a dangerous front. Less than an hour later, a sheet of rain came racing across the ocean, and the storm of a lifetime hit.

* * *

From the swirling clouds above the ship, the demon from the island watched, well entertained, as the ship was tossed like a toy in waves towering like two story buildings. Sure, that guardian Coriakin had spilled the details on how to find their location, but now since he and the Dufflepuds weren’t somewhat hidden it would also be easier to torture them as well. And, there was no guarantee the crew below him would make it through the storm, or past the other dangers in the oceans. “Good luck boy,” the being hissed. “Oh, yes, good luck. Not. Ha ha ha ha ha!!”


	11. Storm

One word: terrifying.

Three days straight of nothing but lightning, driving rain, and winds that produced waves taller than the masts of the ship on rare occasions. The dragons, naturally, were of no help at all since they couldn’t fly in the horrid weather and none of them could swim in waters like this. Even worse, we were making practically no headway toward our destination.

By now, everyone was almost constantly wet with seawater, and Eustace was happier only because we were all as miserable as he was. Well, almost everyone. It’s hard to bring down a character like Reepicheep, and I was the only one who could find fun in such a storm. A Doomfang has few issues even in monstrous waves, and Skrills are known to live in lightning storms. So, when I got the chance, I made use of my skills and disappeared into the clouds for an hour or two.

Riding lightning is just as nerve-wracking and exciting as it sounds, and there are few ways I knew of that could propel one at such speeds. The first day of the storm I managed to escape for a time and, high up in the clouds, I found electric currents to play with very quickly. Static charges raced across my skin as bolts cracked around me. The sound of thunder was deafening, but a Skrill is designed to withstand such noise levels. Whenever I felt the air charge up, I folded my wings and aimed downward, and when the lightning hit, the world blurred in a blinding flash of light and I found myself breaking sound barriers as I shot downward, skipping over the massive waves and propelling myself back upward miles into the sky on inertia alone. In the middle of a storm, it’s a great way to relieve the stress of being on a cooped up ship. But, I was the only one able to do it, and so I didn’t stay out long, keeping in mind the others, and soon returned back to the ship.

A number of people had gathered in the navigation room, and so as I landed on the pitching deck I quickly made my way inside, to find discussion going on about possibilities for the continuance of the mission.

“This storm won’t let up any time soon, looks like,” Drinian said, looking over the charts strewn across the table. “We could sail right past the island and off the edge of the world.” I couldn’t help it, and burst out laughing, garnering strange and irritated stares. “And what do you find so funny about this situation?” Drinian asked. I shook my head. “Not the situation,” I replied, still smiling. “The world is round, there’s no edge to fall off of. But that is somewhat beside the point. What we do know is, quite simply, that we don’t know what other dangers we may well face.”

Hiccup had been leaning up against the wall, and at my statement he nodded and stood up straight (or at least as much as he could with the waves still tossing us about). “That’s certainly true. We’re stuck in a hurricane, and even if it doesn’t last weeks like I know some have been known to, there are plenty of other natural dangers we could face. Shallow shoals, reefs, rogue waves, etc. And past that, we’re far enough west that we don’t know what kinds of dangerous creatures we might encounter.”

“Like sea serpents,” Edmund muttered. Caspian sighed and looked around at the gathered group. “Well, we can’t just turn back now,” he countered. “Not after having come so far. It’s also a long trip back if we just turn around, and if we have a chance a retrieving the people who were abducted, if they’re still alive somewhere, we should take the chance.”

“All I’m sayin’ is that the crew is getting nervous,” Drinian returned. “And we’re also already running low on water rations. That one barrel that got washed overboard last night won’t help anything.” Hiccup chuckled, and gestured out the window of the room. “There is a rainstorm going on outside,” he pointed out. “We could collect water off the sails or simply in buckets as it comes down.” Everyone glanced at him, and from the looks on their faces apparently that thought hadn’t yet come to mind for some reason. “Good idea,” Caspian said. “And besides, if we really start running low on food we do have dragons on board,” I pointed out. “In the storm there’s at least me. We can catch fish.”

The meeting didn’t last long past that. The decision was made: for now, we would continue to press forward, but if we were caught in the storm for more than a few days we would have to find a way to turn back to calmer waters. Hiccup and I stepped out into the hallway and headed down toward the dragon’s room. A lot of us had taken to sleeping in there, partly because warm dragons meant a drier sleeping place, and partly because when you have a large fire-breathing reptile with you, you tend to just feel safer sleeping, especially during a storm. On the way down, we happened to pass by Reepicheep.

“Haven’t seen you in a little while,” I noted. He laughed. “Been hanging out at the front of the ship, for a while,” he said. “It’s a refreshing and exciting feeling, standing at the prow in such a gale!” I snorted. “Well, just make sure you don’t fall off at some point.” He just chuckled again, then turned a little more serious. “Oh, by the way, you might want to make sure to stay away from Eustace if you can manage it. He’s been in a worse mood than usual for the past few hours.”

We stood there for a minute, processing that information, before a nagging feeling rose up in the back of my mind. “Uh, he’s not anywhere near the dragon room, is he?”

SCREEECH!!!

The sudden, piercing shriek of a Night Fury in pain seemed to almost answer the question. We all looked at each other, before bolting for the dragon’s room. “What in all heck just happened?!” Hiccup yelled as we raced through the hall. All three of us reached the entrance at the same time, and scrambled around the corner.

All three of us also went skidding to a halt as we took in the scene before us, shocked. Against one wall was Eustace, plastered against the side with an angry, fearful look on his face. In his hand, was one of Hiccup’s throwing knives, with something glistening on the blade.

Just across from him, with the other dragons hovering dangerously and protectively over him, was Toothless, lying on the ground and clearly in pain, with a large gash slashed across both his leg and side. As soon as Eustace saw us enter the room, he jerked forward, and the anger in his expression evaporated, replaced by only fear. He knew he was in for something.

My blood boiled at the sight, and I rounded on Eustace, yelling out, “What did you DO?!” He fidgeted and dropped the knife, trying to look smaller. “I-I defended myself!” He snapped back, sliding along the wall away from me. Hiccup had run to Toothless, and I turned in his direction as well, but not before slamming a wide tailfin into Eustace’s path to prevent him from going anywhere. I bent down and put my hand over Toothless, examining the gash, before glaring at Eustace again. “Bull. They won’t attack unless you do so first,” I growled, eyes glowing red.

Eustace stood indignant. It didn’t help that Hiccup was advancing on him now. “It tripped me, then turned to try and bite me!” he spat. “And I was just walking by! I defended myself!” “Oh, please, Toothless wouldn’t do that in any fashion, and everyone on this ship seems to know that except you!” Hiccup yelled back, cornering the other boy.

By now the rest of the Vikings had showed up from wherever they’d disappeared to, and Edmund and Caspian walked in the other door with the other Pevensie siblings. When they saw me bending down over Toothless, who by now was beginning to bleed badly, and Hiccup practically pinning Eustace to the wall with his own sword, they stopped in their tracks.

I ignored the scene for a moment and focused on Toothless, placing my hands against his side. Whispering out of habit more than need, I said, “Heal,” and watched the familiar shimmering glow of energy flow off my skin and seep into the wounds, gathering gasps and squeaks from everyone save the Vikings. Some of them had seen the trick in the bell tower at the Lone Islands, but it still wasn’t quite a match to watching foot long cuts seal together and disappear as if they weren’t ever there. They closed up slowly, leaving no mark or scar behind, and once that was done with I stood, and helped Toothless shakily get to his feet. Then I turned around.

“So, Toothless, care to tell me what _actually_ happened?” I asked, fixing a glare on Eustace as I did so. <He came sneaking through the room acting as if he was running from someone, and hiding something,> Toothless began, sitting tall and also glaring at the boy. <As he walked by I raised my head, and he was distracted by me and so tripped over the quiver lying there.> He nodded to the quiver of arrows lying on the floor, and at the gesture, Susan gasped and ran to grab them. “Those are mine, sorry!” she apologized. “I don’t know how they got there.”

Toothless raised an eyebrow, then continued. <A-anyway, I held out my tail so he wouldn’t go sprawling across the floor, and then stood up and turned to see if he was okay.> He snarled a little at Eustace as he added the last bit. <That’s when he freaked out and grabbed Hiccup’s knife. I didn’t think he could move that fast, but after living with Hiccup and you I should know better.>

I looked up at the other dragons. “We were mostly on the other side of the room,” Stormfly noted, nodding toward the diving wall the split the room in half. “But I did see Toothless stop Eustace from falling.” I nodded. “Well, Eustace, you appear to be at odds with the evidence here,” I muttered, nodding to Hiccup to let him go. Hiccup was a little reluctant, but what with Toothless being okay now and all the rest of us already glaring daggers at the teen, he released the boy and sheathed his sword. Eustace brushed himself off and stood up straight again, looking at us nervously. I continued with the summary of events.

“You tripped over a simple misplaced weapon, and when Toothless went to help you, out of his way mind you, you overreacted based on your own prejudices, and attacked him.”

“Eustace, you know as well as us they’re here to help,” Edmund broke in, “and we have seen absolutely nothing to the contrary. Snotlout’s stunt a few days ago notwithstanding.” “They’re dragons!” Eustace yelled, as if that meant anything to this group. “Dragons are vicious beasts, made to torment and trick us! Every legend and myth points to such. And you’re all in cahoots with the crazy coot in the robes on that island back there and this sorcerer here, so you can’t seem to see the truth when it’s sitting right-OW!”

I couldn’t help it. I reached out a long tail and whipped the tip across Eustace’s face cutting him off and making a point. “Don’t you EVER dare call me that again,” I hissed. “I am not associated with evil, don’t even insinuate such a thing! My gift is God’s gift, and the reason I have it is to deal with issues like the one we’re tracking down now. And that’s a whole lot harder when I have to deal with uneducated idiots who can’t figure out fact from fiction and how to listen every now and then! I’d say you are seriously in need of-“

I stopped mid-sentence as a new idea came to me. “What is it?” Astrid asked from the doorway. I shook my head. “Nothing, it’s not important,” I growled, and focused on Eustace’s shirt. There was a noticeable bulge. “Toothless was right, you’re hiding something. Peter, what does he have in his shirt?”

Eustace immediately took on a “deer in the headlights” expression and gulped. Peter looked at me, then stepped forward and held out his hand. Eustace stupidly shook his head and stammered, “I-I don’t have a-anything.”

Reepicheep crawled up behind him and jumped on his shoulder. “Want to have another sword match?” he asked. “I won’t go easy this time.”

Eustace deflated, and reached into his shirt. I suspected something like a piece of fruit or a bread roll, but instead, he pulled out an entire loaf of bread and a good portion of salted beef. Now it was Caspian’s turn to pass judgment.

“Eustace, you are hereby confined to your room until further notice, at least until we reach then next island,” he ordered. “You are convicted of stealing, treason and harm against respected guests, along with lying to your superiors multiple times.” “You’re getting off easy,” Edmund added, no small amount of contempt in his voice. He and Peter both grabbed Eustace and marched him by the shoulders out of the room and toward his own.

“Hiccup, I’m so very sorry about him,” Lucy apologized, before looking at Toothless. “Well, I should really say sorry to you, shouldn’t I?” she amended sheepishly. Toothless gave her a gummy smile and nudged her gently. <I’m fine right now, and you’re not the one at fault.>

Lucy looked at me for translation. “He says you’re not the one who should be sorry, and he’s fine,” I translated. She nodded, and after giving Toothless an affectionate scratch, she left the room with Susan and Caspian. As they left, the rest of the Vikings filed in to fill the space. I glanced at Astrid ad Cami. “Mind helping me get the dragons to sleep again?” I asked. “The storm is tiring all of us out and they have nothing else to do, especially since it won’t be letting up soon.”

“Yeah, but what are you going to do about Eustace?” Camicazi asked, poking her head around to the other side of the room and gesturing for Stormfly and the others to lie down again. “We should drop him in the ocean!” Tuffnut suggested, grinning cockily. I smiled and shook my head. “Tempting Tuff, but no.” I looked at a bag lying in the corner, filled with small rocks for ballast but unused in this trip. “I have a much different idea. Eustace is having problems with me and all the dragons, and it’s the kind of problem that Hiccup and I both know needs one-on-one experience to solve, and he won’t just listen to words, since he’s too stuck up and arrogant. The problem is, he’s not going to accept going on a flight either, will refuse to enjoy it.” I picked up the bag, and pulled out one small rock, looking it over. It was almost perfectly round, and smooth.

“Now, if a drastic change were to suddenly make his problems worse, he’ll actually have a chance at appreciating who we are and how we work,” I continued, beginning to smile, “especially if he gets something from our point of view. Maybe he’ll finally have some respect for the dragons and what I can do after it’s all done as well.”

“What are you going to do?” Hiccup queried. I squeezed my had around the rock, and shocked it with a wave of energy. It began to shift as a gravity field reshaped its form, and molecular realignment caused it to gleam gold, smooth and dotted with fine scales, a tiny dragon figurine. “A small transformation,” I whispered.


	12. Deathly Shores

After 3 days, the storm did finally let up, clouds rolling away to be replaced by clear, sapphire skies. With the sunny weather temperatures began to rise, telling us we’d also drifted a little further south. As morning came the day after the skies cleared, smooth sailing awaited us for a time, and by midday, the lookout stationed in the crow’s nest spotted an island.

“Here’s your chance,” Cami whispered as we peered over the side. I shrugged, trying to ignore her upbeat attitude about the prospect. As much as Eustace deserved what was coming, I knew it was going to bring a hassle, and I knew why Cami was so eager to see the plan come to fruition: it was another way to tick off the boy who’d out-annoyed her, and she enjoyed riling up anyone she could.

“Only if everything works out,” I replied. “And wipe that smirk off your face; people are going to start getting suspicious.” Cami gave me a deadpan glare as a reply. “Right, never mind. That’s just how you always look. Come on, the dragons need to get out for a while.”

By the time we were within anchor dropping distance from the isle, the dragons were well exercised, though none of them were planning on landing anytime soon anyway (never keep a dragon cooped up if you can help it), and decided they were ready to explore the little spit of land. I, however, landed on the ship and folded my wings, and made to board one of the rowboats, the same one Reepicheep was already on. As I stepped aboard, he gave me a funny look.

“Why stay stuck on a boat with the rest of us when you can fly in this weather?” he asked. I shrugged. “Can’t talk as easily when I’m twenty feet up in the air,” I explained. “Plus, I’m keeping an eye on him.” I nodded slightly in the direction of Eustace, who was feigning being disgruntled as he stepped aboard the other rowboat.

Reep sighed and looked up at me. “He’s not going to be a bother all the way through this trip ashore as well, is he?” “Don’t know. But, he’ll probably sneak off in order to get a chance to be away from us and walk around on solid ground. And he’s already got it coming, anything else he happens to do now would just be icing on the cake.” Reep gave me a confused look, but decided to let it go and help with the launching of the boat.

As we neared the island, it became ridiculously apparent that we probably wouldn’t find much. It was almost pure rock, coated in sulfur from the acrid steam floating over the numerous vents, and toxic minerals were leaching out from anywhere the stone had been worn down. Higher up we could see small amounts of smoke mixing with the steam from larger vents on the mountain. The entire place looked like death, and the appearance certainly didn’t help with raising spirits.

We rowed toward the nearest bay, one of the few places on the shoreline that looked safe to land at. In the other boat, I could hear the conversation going: “We’ll have the men split up to search for anything that could be used as supplies,” Caspian was saying, “and the five of us will go look for any signs that the lords may have stopped here.” “Don’t you mean the six of us?” Eustace asked, the pleading unmistakable in his voice. I watched as everyone turned and looked at him with expressions clearly saying _you’ve got to be kidding._

“Oh come on, please don’t send me back with the rat,” Eustace begged. “I heard that,” Reepicheep called out from next to me. I smiled and began muttering, “Three, two, one-“

“Big ears,” Eustace practically whispered. “I heard that too!” Reep quipped, glancing at me and winking, knowing Eustace was now red with frustration. There’s little a mouse won’t hear. We all just laughed as Eustace sulked.

When we reached the island, we all began unloading tools we thought we would need to gather supplies or explore the island. All of us, that is, except Eustace. The second he got a chance, thinking no one was watching, he slipped away from the boats and disappeared behind a rock ledge, heading into the island. I smirked. _Everything’s playing out perfectly now._

“I’m going to go get a layout of the island,” I announced, before turning toward the center of the island as well. Once the group acknowledged they’d heard me, I spread a pair of grayish wings and launched upward, gliding over the sharp rocks and through small clouds of the sulfurous steam. Naturally, looking down I did not find any sign of Eustace right away, as he wasn’t planning on sticking close to the boats, but it wasn’t an issue. Shadow dragons can find missing persons plenty easily even if the quarry had a head start. I landed in a wide ravine and morphed, slipping into the surrounding shadows before flowing across the shadows filling the many canyons and caves that dotted the island, searching for the soon to be very sorry runaway.

* * *

“Hey guys, over here!” Edmund yelled. Caspian and the other Pevensies rushed over to see what he had found. A deep crevasse had opened in the rock, leading into a cave below, and at the bottom, Edmund had spotted the remains of a rope. Caspian walked over and un-shouldered his own rope, tying it to a rock spire near the mouth of the crack. “Well, looks like they may have stopped here after all,” he commented. “Let’s find out if there’s anything down there still.” Edmund took the rope first and threw the other end down, shimmying down the length until he’d landed at the bottom. When he signaled it was clear, the others followed one by one, dropping down behind him to find themselves all in a large cavern, lit by beams of light through the rock ceiling above and dotted with small pools of water here and there.

All of them stayed oblivious to the whispering green tinted mist that followed them in, seeping through the cracks in the rock and trailing the group like a silent predator. The fog raced ahead of them, staying out of sight in the cracks. As it came upon a larger pool of water, it coalesced momentarily into a figure; a gruesome spirit guised liked a goblin, and reached down to the water, touching a single claw to it. It muttered to itself almost unheard, “Things will go well now, three more to fall here,” before dispersing back into thin air as the group came around the corner and found the pool.

Peter stepped up to the edge first, and pointed toward the other end. “There’s some sort of statue in the water,” he said. “It looks like it’s shining too.” The others stepped around him to take a closer look, before they began to venture along the edge. The statue looked like a man, kneeling down to grab something. And as Peter had noticed, it was a shimmering yellow color, the same sheen as a very precious metal.

“It looks like gold,” Lucy noted. “Well, let’s see if we can fish it out and find out for sure,” Edmund suggested. He turned and began to search along the wall of the cave, and found a root from a long dead tree, the only thing they’d seen that looked remotely like something alive yet. He pulled it from the wall, and walked back to the pool, sticking the end of the branch down into water, attempting to reach the sunken statue.

He didn’t get very far. The second the root hit the water, a crackling, clinking noise sounded and the root began changing appearance, the shimmering gold color racing up it and replacing the dull brown. Edmund lifted it up and watched the branch continue to transform racing toward his own hands. He yelped and threw it, jumping back from the pool as well. All five of them stared in shock as the root hit the water and sank, disappearing into the deeper parts beyond the edge, and then their attention turned back toward the man. All of them were sure now it wasn’t just a statue that sat in the water.

“He-he must have fallen in,” Lucy whispered. “Poor man,” he sister echoed behind her. Edmund peered closer. “You mean poor lord,” he corrected, pointing toward the sword and shield lying in the water just to the right of the man. The shield was emblazoned with a symbol Caspian immediately recognized.

“That’s the crest of Lord Rheston. We need to see if we can get the sword out.” They all looked back to Edmund again, who still carried Lord Bern’s sword. He nodded in understanding, and unsheathed the weapon, walking around to get as close to the sunken sword as he could and dipping the tip into the water. It caught the hilt of the sunken sword, and he pulled it out of the water gently, letting the liquid drip off before carefully handing it over to Caspian. That was when Peter noticed the still silvery color of both.

“The swords didn’t change,” he noted. Caspian shrugged. “Both of them were inlaid with power remember?” he said. “Coriakin mentioned that the evil was using a mineral of some sort as a catalyst, and these swords were the key to neutralizing it. That means they’re probably immune to alchemical spells like in this water.”

Edmund put his sword away and cast an apologetic glance at the golden man below the surface. As they turned to leave, however, he stopped. “What is it now?” Lucy asked. Edmund bent down and grabbed a large shell, likely washed in from the recent storm, before looking toward the pool again. “Maybe he didn’t just fall in,” he mused. “What if he was onto something?”

“Edmund, what are you jabbering on about?” Susan asked, clearly impatient to leave. Edmund bent down to the water, and dipped the very tip of the shell in. Immediately, it began to shimmer, and the same odd clinking noise sounded as the shell converted to the soft metal. He set it down on the ground until the shell had fully transformed. When it was, he picked it up and glanced between it and his siblings.

“What are you staring at Edmund?” Peter asked worriedly. Edmund looked up, a shade of green just barely clouding his eyes. “Think about it, we’d be so rich,” he said. “We could be royalty not only here but in our own home as well! We wouldn’t have to listen to anyone, or follow orders, be made to stay with people we don’t want to.”

Lucy’s eyes widened as he said this, recognizing the odd tone in his voice. Unbeknownst to anyone save herself, she had already had her own run in with a temptation of her own a couple of night before.

“Have you lost your mind?” Susan asked. Peter shook his head. “You can’t take anything out of Narnia Edmund, save what you brought with you.” “And why not?” Edmund quipped back, still staring at the gold shell. “Because it doesn’t belong to us, it’s supposed to stay here.” “And it would be defying two kings of the land,” Caspian added.

That made it click. Edmund glared at him, standing up and ever so slightly reaching for his sword. “I am a king of Narnia,” he hissed, standing straight and glaring at Caspian. “You’ve been waiting for this, haven’t you?” Caspian toned lowly. “I am the rightful ruler here now, but you want to challenge me, you doubt my leadership, don’t you?” Peter drew his sword, sensing an oncoming fight. “What’s going on here?” he asked warningly. “Edmund, don’t do anything stu-“

You were also the high king!” Edmund snapped. “Why should I listen to you, I’ve always played second fiddle. First you, and now him!” “You’re sounding a lot like a traitor now, Ed,” Peter warned. “And you two are acting like spineless saps!” Edmund lashed back.

Caspian had had enough. He drew his own sword and hissed, “If you think you’re so great, prove it!” Edmund drew his sword, and both weapons flashed, slamming together as the pair of near-indestructible swords threw sparks. Peter leapt forward, a third sword adding in as he tried to break them up, but it only made it worse as he was drawn into a three-way battle. Metal clashed with metal as the trio began shuffling toward the pool unknowingly, and they would have ended up all falling in had it not been for the two left out of the fight.

“Stop it!” Susan yelled, her voice echoing off the walls as she and Lucy leapt forward and into the way. “Stop it, all three of you!” she snapped again, and the boys stepped back, looking shocked that they’d begun fighting like they had. “Don’t you see it yet?” Lucy asked. “This is exactly what Coriakin was talking about. That demon has followed us here, and this place is bewitching you, turning you all against each other.”

Edmund’s eyes widened in response, and he dropped the shell still in his hand like it was a boiling potato. It hit the ground and bounced, rolling away and into the pool to rest by the man in the water. Susan shook her head. “Look, we have the sword, we have no reason to stay here. Let’s just get out of here and head back to the boats. Everyone else is probably back by now.”

One by one, they turned away and headed back toward the entrance of the cave, Edmund being the last to leave as he took one last glance of nervousness around. Now, he could feel as if something was watching him, and that only confirmed to him what Lucy had said. With a final shudder, he raced after his siblings.

When they were gone, out from the cracks came the mist again, forming into the goblin-like spirit, who hissed, spat, and muttered about the two girls foiling that chance. Had they not been there the three kings would have been lost and the boat would have turned back around, but it was no use cursing his failure now. After the little tantrum, the demon composed himself again, and took off toward the other side of the island. There was still a chance to ruin things, what with a clueless wandering boy who was still highly susceptible to his own greed, and the boy with the gift who had plans of his own. All he needed to do was start complicating things, and maybe, just maybe, get the guardian and his Viking friends thrown off the ship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Approaching my favorite scene in the Dawn Treader film, and though I feel like I wrote it somewhat awkwardly, it still amuses me...


	13. Reconciliation

“Follow the blue star to the island of Ramandoodoo, lay magic swords on some table in the middle of nowhere to break a spirit’s spell. It’s official: I am in the company of the clinically insane.”

Eustace walked along a crumbling ridge, kicking at the rocks as he lamented his “less-than-favorable” position. Unknown to him, his position was about to become even more unfavorable, as two unseen entities were following him through the landscape. One raced ahead of him and disappeared down into a ravine, lying in wait and playing with one of Eustace’s strongest weaknesses: greed.

Eustace turned the corner on the ledge, beginning to walk past the ravine, when he got a random urge to look to the side. What lay before him made him freeze in shock.

“What in the world?” he muttered, rubbing his eyes in case he was seeing things. Looking again, the image didn’t disappear. Sprawled below him was the ravine, and it was sparkling from one end to the other with what appeared to be pieces of gold and gems. “I must be dreaming. Is this real-“ Eustace began to say, before he lost his footing.

Below him, the demon loosened the rocks in the ledge, causing it to give way, bringing the boy above crashing down. “Augh!” Eustace yelled as he slipped and rolled down the side and into the ravine. “Owww!” he whined, holding his elbow as he sat up and glared at the cliff, still showering him with dirt. He staggered to his feet and looked around, his pain slowly forgotten at the sight before him.

Filling the ravine were piles and piles of assorted jewels, shining gold and silver wares. “I must be dead,” Eustace half whispered, eyes wide. He didn’t question the sudden turn of fortune, however, and immediately rushed forward, collecting the treasures he could lift and stuffing them into his pockets and shirt.

He turned another corner as he skittered through the piles of riches and reached down. Suddenly he realized, however, that he was not grabbing hold of a cup; it was a skeleton’s arm. “Yaaahh!!” Eustace screamed, scrambling back and falling against a misfortunately placed rock stalagmite sticking up from the ground. “Ah-howwww!!” he yelped again, rubbing his sore back and glaring again at the cause of his pain, and focused on the skeleton again.

“You’re definitely dead,” he noted, spying the band that wrapped around the dead man’s wrist and reaching forward again to pull it off. “Then I guess you won’t be needing that then!” he spouted gleefully, tugging it off and putting the bracelet around his own arm. He turned and began gathering the treasure again, the frowns of earlier replaced with greedy grins. “Finally, a favorable turn of events.”

He spoke too soon.

HHHSSSSSSS!!

Eustace froze at the noise, sounding like the rasping hiss of some giant snake. Slowly, he turned to look down the ravine from where the noise erupted, and at first, there was nothing to be seen but more piles of riches. But then, before his disbelieving eyes, the pieces of treasure deep in the ravine began to move, at first as if something was underneath them (which was a thought scary enough to send shivers down the boy’s back), but then they began to gather together.

Cups, necklaces, loose jewels and coins rolled over and up each other as an unseen force pulled them into shape. A long, thin body and hideous spear shaped head rose up from the piles, composed completely of animated treasure, a pair of massive rubies like eyes turning to look through the ravine. “Oh dear God, what have I gotten into?” Eustace whispered, finally realizing that maybe it wasn’t good fortune that he’d fallen here. Then he screamed as the apparition focused on him and shot forward, mouth open and an unnatural screech echoed from the open jaws.

Before the monstrosity could descend on the boy, a blast of black fire shot out of nowhere, engulfing the thing, metal and jewels warping and burning under the heat as ropes of shadows exploded out of the very walls of the cliff, slamming the abomination to the ground and breaking it to pieces, the dark magic holding the treasure together finally dissipating and the treasure falling inanimate to the ground again. None of this made Eustace feel better, of course, as the ropes of shadow stayed, plastering against the ravine walls.

* * *

I followed Eustace along the ledge, and watched as he tumbled down into the ravine. I sighed and slipped through the cracks into a corner of the gorge, watching with only mild interest as Eustace became overcome with greed at the sight of the treasure played out before him. My mind wandered for a moment to the reason why all these riches were piled here. The dragons I knew certainly harbored no interest in the stuff, wondering why people coveted it so much, but it was possible that a species here used it for some purpose, much like Smokebreaths gathered metal for their nests. I had a different suspicion, however, along the lines of human intervention at some point in the past, or even some form of evil gathering here as a trap.

Eustace continued to blunder through the riches, reaching around a corner blindly and groping for more, and I barely managed to hold in a snort of laughter as he grabbed the skeleton that had apparently sat against the wall for some time now.

Before I could enjoy the sight any more, however, a chill swept past me, barely audible voices whispering thoughts of deceit and danger through my head, before passing in the direction of the treasure below. I growled lowly, trying to focus on where the chill had headed. Behind me I barely noticed Eustace muttering about “Finally, a favorable turn of events,” completely unaware something was hunting him. My anger rose again, not only toward the thing I had felt and the fact that it partially confirmed my suspicion, but also toward the completely obtuse boy, still thinking this was all here by chance.

HHHSSSS!!

The noise echoed through the ravine and I looked back again, finally spotting faint traces of the greenish mist seeping through the pieces of treasure, dragging a pile of it together with half seen hands and dark magic, gathering it up into a hideous image, serpentine in shape but covered with bumps and spikes, and a head that looked more like a warped spear than a snake or dragon. It focused toward Eustace once it was fully built up, and he screamed as it immediately bolted for him, mouth open and screeching.

Immediately, I reached out my snout and fired at the abomination, a hideous scream erupting from it as the gold and silver items warped, but it stayed in shape still, so I threw shadow ropes around the thing and squeezed, dragging it to the ground and slamming it down hard. Finally, the dark magic broke and the treasure fell again, harmless, but as it did so, not a chill but a burning hiss passed through my mind.

“You treacherous scum! Always in the way, you always ruin everything!” it hissed, heard only by me. I shook my head hard as the presence left, arcing away from the island, hatred radiating off the entity. _Well, we certainly know who it has the biggest problem with now,_ I thought to myself, before I turned to focus on my original mission, the oblivious boy Eustace who was still staring in fear at the smoking pile of gold on the ground, still completely unaware he’d just avoided death and that the boy he disliked most had saved his life, again.

It was past time to finish what I’d come for, so I flowed out of the shadows in the cracks, covering the ravine over with black mist and shielding it from the sight of anyone who might happened by. Eustace backed into a corner, thinking he was being attacked again by the demon, and moved as far away from the swirling shape I’d become in the middle of the ravine as he possibly could.

“Congratulations, you’re a lucky one,” I hissed, earning a yelp from Eustace as he heard the raspy voice I was using, keeping my own nearly unrecognizable. “You were just saved from an attack from a demon in a physical form, and without a scratch” I advanced toward him, solidifying my shape into the unmistakable form of the Shadow, the swirling black cloud of shadows still surrounding me though still blurring the image Eustace saw. “However,” I continued, “you’ve committed a great many undesirable acts toward many, even those who were directly trying to help you, and so a price must be paid, a lesson taught.”

Eustace was shivering in fear below me, focused directly on my burning red eyes. “W-what are you going to do to me?” he squeaked pathetically. I laughed venomously. “You’ll see, quite soon enough.”

I rose up on my hind legs and spread my wings, the black cloud around me beginning to swirl in a column as I focused the energy running through me. I spit out a single flame of black fire, and held it flickering above me paw. “You are a greedy, intolerant, arrogant fool,” I quipped, speaking poetically to appear more frightening. “You’ve acted through this voyage as but a hindrance, a broken tool.” The flame began gaining light and turning in my paw as I molded the energy in it toward the purpose I had in mind.

“You’ve brought to your friends, your cousins, your comrades much pain, anger, and spite, and as for help, you’ve given naught. So, as it is the dragons, creatures of peace you have come to hate the most, you will now see the world through their eyes, and learn that lesson you need the most.” The flame now glowed almost pure white, and spinning fast enough to appear a solid crystal, sending beams of light flashing through the dark ravine.

“Should you show that you have your lesson properly learned,” I began to finish, “only then will I bring you back to your proper form.”

Eustace was paralyzed with anxiety, and so he did not attempt to move as I stretched out my paw and threw the glowing flame, charged with power, straight at him. It settled directly between his feet, where it burst upward and flowed across him, engulfing every inch of his body. He yelped in fear, and his eyes widened as his limbs began to lengthen and change shape, patterns of scales forming along his skin as a pair of wings and a long, sinuous tail erupted out behind him. “No! No, no no nonononono!> he yelled, his words morphing to a roar as he changed fully.

I gave a grim smile, and dematerialized again now that it was done, pulling the mist of shadows inward like a high-speed tornado, and disappeared back into the ravine walls, leaving Eustace alone to comprehend what he’d just gone through, and to find his way back on his own.

* * *

Once the black dragon had disappeared, the demon snuck back to watch as Eustace changed fully. As the boy-turned-dragon dragged himself away and out of sight, the spirit dropped down to complicate things just a little more, leaving one more small trick in place, to upset everything even more. The act that the boy with the abilities had committed would make things hard as it was for him and his friends, but maybe, just maybe, there was still a chance to make a rift that they would never be able to fix with the new friends they had found. And the demon knew, once a team was divided, the pieces all fell twice as fast.


	14. Unstable Ground

I transformed to Night Fury and set out over the island like I had told the others I would. Gliding down the shoreline, I spotted some of the men in the crew and Reepicheep heading back toward the beach with what appeared to be a couple baskets of food. I dove down and glided to a landing next to them.

“Find much?” I asked curiously. Reepicheep shook his head. “Not much grows on a sulfuric island like this,” he said. “Since you’re here though, you can help us load the boats up.”

“I see you found some food!” a voice called from behind us. I turned to find Caspian and the Pevensies walking down the other “path” that had led away from the beach. “Not very much,” Reep called back as they approached. “Did you happen to find anything?”

There was a penetrating silence as they tried to word their answer, before Peter cleared his throat. “We, uh, we found a second sword.” I nodded, frowning slightly. “And what of the lord? Is he no more?” Peter slowly nodded. “You could say that,” he said. “Certainly he was no longer alive.” I sighed in response. “I had a feeling.”

“By the way, has anyone seen Eustace recently?” Susan asked. There was a snort from Reepicheep. “Yes, I believe he’s out not helping us load the boats,” he snarked. Silence descended again, and Lucy began to fidget. “Edmund, I’ve got a bad feeling,” she said quietly. He sighed in response. “I’ll go look for him,” he muttered begrudgingly, and turned to go again.

“I’ll go with you,” Caspian spoke up, before turning to me. “You didn’t happen to see him at all while you were scouting the island, did you?” I nodded, not wanting to lie outright, and gestured toward the center of the island. “Off in that direction earlier. It was some time ago though.” He nodded, and he and Edmund headed off. I returned to helping load the boats, and the rest of us shoved off.

As they rowed back toward the ship, I flew ahead and called out for Astrid and Hiccup, who along with the other riders I had seen return to the ship some time earlier. As I landed they came up from below deck. “We’re going to have a very grumpy dragon on our hands soon,” I informed them, “and I may need your help to keep him calmed down and under control. We’ll probably need to keep the crew here level headed too, they’re not going to like this.” Hiccup raised an eyebrow in response. “What happened?” he asked quietly. “Take a guess,” I replied.

Both of them nodded in response, recalling the incident a couple days before, before turning and whistling for their dragons. I turned and launched back into the air myself, coursing back toward the rowboats and accompanying them back to the ship.

* * *

“Caspian, down here!”

Edmund slid down the slope into the ravine, the piles of shining treasure catching his eye first before he noticed a smoking pile of _something_ lying in the midst of it. Caspian slipped down behind him, clouds of dust rising up from both of their less-than-elegant landings. “Did he drop something?” Caspian asked. Edmund shook his head, bending down slowly and picking up something from the pile, a cloth of some sort. It was charred and still smoking, but undeniably familiar: the shirt Eustace had been wearing. Under it lay his pants, in the same condition, and in one of the pockets Edmund drew out a smoldering notebook, Eustace’s journal. All of them looked like they had been torn from the boy, and left there haphazardly.

Neither of them said anything for a few minutes, only staring at the remains. Caspian broke the silence finally, uttering a quiet and solemn, “I’m so sorry.” Eustace cleared his throat and spread his hands in a torn gesture. “He was just a boy,” he choked. “I shouldn’t have been so hard on him.” He looked around at their surroundings. “He must have been tempted by the treasure, that much I’m sure of. But, what could have happened to him?”

Caspian slowly turned to look around as well. “In this place? Just about anything.” He noticed something against the wall of the ravine. “And he wasn’t the first, either. Look here,” he said, pointing toward the skeleton Eustace had found earlier, and gesturing to the ring still around its finger. A telltale symbol, like that on the other lord’s shield, was etched upon it.

“This was Lord Octesian. We need to find his-“ he trailed off as he saw Edmund stoop down and pick up the dust-coated scabbard nearby, the sword still within. “-sword,” he finished, as Edmund took another glance around.

“What if it was one of the dragons?” he asked. Caspian frowned and looked at him. “No, I doubt it. They’ve never acted rashly toward us, I don’t think they’d do something like this.” He looked up at the sky. “But the native species isn’t quite so understanding. We should go.”

* * *

As Lucy and Susan climbed aboard, Peter right behind them, I landed and quickly helped the others unload. Stormfly crawled up onto the deck, claiming she was there to give a helping paw. As she did so, she glanced at the people boarding the ship again.

“Shouldn’t there be a couple more?” she queried. “A couple more what?” Lucy asked back, looking up from where she was setting down a half-empty barrel. “People,” came the reply. Lucy shivered in response and looked out toward the island. “Eustace…made himself scarce, so Caspian and Edmund are looking for him.” There was a pregnant pause before she added quietly, “They’re taking a long time, though,” with worry unmistakable in her eyes. I sighed, really trying to keep from saying anything too soon, and went over to help her lift up one of the barrels again in order to drag it down to the galley.

<HHEEELLPPPP!!>

Everyone on board immediately jumped in surprise and faced the island, most of them hearing nothing but an echoing roar. Stormfly, however, looked straight at me with questions written across her face. I nodded, and her eyes widened in realization.

<A bit harsh on him, don’t you think?!> she quipped. I looked at the island just as a plume of flames erupted from somewhere behind a cliff face. <Oh, no, he’s getting exactly what he needs,> I retorted.

“That’s not the volcano, is it?” Lucy asked, running back out of the galley. Drinian, standing up at the helm, scrutinized the island, a dark expression coloring his face. “Oh no, that’s no volcano,” he muttered, before turning and yelling to the crew, “Archers, arm yourselves!”

As they rushed for the weapons room, I climbed up to the crow’s nest, barely noticing the other dragons and Vikings finally appearing again on deck. “What’s going on?” I heard Cami yell, though she already knew the answer. “Narnian dragon,” Drinian replied, “and they’re very territorial and aggressive creatures, not like yours.”

RRROOOOAAARRRR!!! <HEELLPP MEEE!!>

Everyone faced the island again, and sure enough, arcing out across the small bay was a large, bronze-gold dragon, not a little bit shaky on his wings.

<Stormfly, if they ask, tell them it’s Eustace!> I yelled down at her, <but do NOT tell them how he got that way, not yet!> She nodded, and I jumped up, back-flipping and diving into the ocean, my body elongating into a Seashade dragon, before arcing under the ship to try and follow Eustace.

Eustace, meanwhile, rocketed over the water and up toward the ship, circling around it and trying to figure out how to land. <Can anyone understand me at all?> he cried. <Please, I need help!> His pleas went unheard by the crew below, scaring them as all they heard were roars and growls.

<We can!> Stormfly roared back. Eustace screeched and backpedaled in shock at suddenly understanding the growling sounds he’d heard from the other dragons for so long. He glanced upward, and flew up to land clumsily on the mast.

“It’ll break the mast!” I heard someone shout above, right before Drinian yelled out, “Archers, take aim! Fire!” The crossbows went up, and arrows began to fly toward Eustace.

<AAHHHH!!!!> he screamed, flapping upward and trying to avoid the arrows. I lifted myself back out of the water just in time to see Reepicheep rushing up the pole of the mast, his sword between his teeth. I tried to grab his attention, but he couldn’t hear me over the yelling of the crew and the dragons.

<Stormfly, Hawken, help!> Eustace screamed. <It-it’s Eustace!> He carefully landed on the mast again, staring at the two of us. Stormfly’s eyes widened in an act of shock, before she pretended to shake it off and looked at him sternly. <Calm down and quit yelling!> she growled back. <They don’t know it’s you!> She gestured with her tail down at the crew below them.

Too late, however. I spotted Reep grab a rope on the mast, and swing out toward Eustace, who also had the bad luck to slip at that moment when he tried dodging another arrow. I lifted myself up fully onto the ship and yelled out, “Reep, no!”

He didn’t hear me. Taking his sword out of his mouth, he swung forward and slashed at Eustace’s paws with his sword, yelling out, “Take that you vicious creature!”

<AAAHHH!!!> Eustace roared again, this time slipping completely off the mast and releasing a burst of fire out of instinct. He fell and turned, just barely saving himself before he crashed into the water, and flying back toward the island. I glanced at the other dragons and riders, who were just taking to the air finally, and ordered, “Watch him, try to make sure he doesn’t leave the island!” before turning upward and focusing on Reepicheep.

“What on earth do you think you were doing?!” I snapped. Reep blinked and gestured to Eustace, who had crossed the bay and was disappearing over the island, the other dragon just starting to follow. “That’s not like the dragons you came with,” he defended. “These are fierce, dangerous animals.”

“He wouldn’t have hurt anyone here!” Stormfly snapped, turning a deep blackish red in anger. “And how do you know that?” Reep shot back. “Because I can understand my own language!” Stormfly screeched. “And you were just fighting Eustace, did you know that?”

That sentence caught the attention of everyone on board, and Reepicheep froze, staring back toward the island with shock written on his face.

* * *

Eustace dipped down across the island, writing out a message in the only way he knew how, and as best as he could with his fire, which was the only tool he had at the moment and whose precision was a bit lacking. When he was done, making sure it was at least legible, he crested a short ridge and glided out across the center of the island. Coursing back toward the bay, he spotted Caspian and Edmund making their way back toward the beach.

<Edmu-> he began, before cutting himself short as he recalled that his cousin couldn’t understand him currently. Instead, he tried a different approach, diving down toward the two and gliding low across the ground. _If I can grab one of them,_ he thought, _I can show them the message, and maybe they’ll know how to get all this fixed._

As he came up behind Caspian though, who was nearest, Caspian turned and spotted him, ducking out of the way. Eustace continued forward, dipping down even lower and coming up behind Edmund. “Edmund!” Caspian screamed, too late. Eustace landed briefly, grabbing the boy and lifting off before Caspian could reach them. Then he arced out toward the ship, Edmund struggling in his grasp.

As Eustace neared, he spotted the Mood Dragon Stormfly and Toothless still both on deck, and below a venomous looking oceanic dragon in the water who he assumed was Hawken. _They’ll see me and come to the island,_ he thought, and raised Edmund up in plain sight.

Lucy certainly saw him. “Edmund!” she screamed, scrambling to the railing. “Lucy, Help!!” Edmund yelled back. Eustace turned back toward the island, passing over the hills and ravines, and crested the tall ridge that ran across the island center. Below, written across blackened rock and smoldering in fire, was the simple, clear message he’d written: I AM EUSTACE!

Eustace immediately felt Edmund deflate in his hands, er, _paws._ “You have got to be kidding me,” he groaned. Eustace shook his head in reply. Edmund sighed and grabbed his head. “Oh, this is not going to be good. Eustace, we need to head back to the beach.” Eustace nodded in agreement, but headed first toward where Caspian still was.

Edmund spotted his friend below and called out, “Caspian! Don’t move!” Caspian turned and saw the two of them heading for him, and naturally, looked flabbergasted. “Are you crazy?!” “Just do it!” Caspian froze in indecision, but it was just long enough for Eustace to drop down and pick him up too.

Caspian struggled in the grip, but Edmund reached over and put a hand on his shoulder. “It’s alright!” he reassured. “We’ve got bigger problems right now.” Caspian looked at him incredulously. “And what could possibly be worse than being dragged around in the claws of a dragon species known to be extremely aggressive?” he asked lowly. Edmund sighed and pointed at the dragon. “The fact that the dragon is my cousin, Eustace.”

* * *

As Eustace turned back toward the island with Edmund in tow, Lucy went berserk, having been one of the few who hadn’t heard Stormfly’s shocking news. “Get in the boats! Get in the boats! We need to get back to the island!” she yelled, jumping into one of the vessels herself immediately. Everyone else followed, and I turned to Cami, one of the two Vikings still on the ship and not following Eustace. “Cami, you and Hiccup get to the beach, that’s where the others will head once they catch Eustace. I’ll meet you there in a moment.” Cami nodded, whistling to Stormfly, who came down the mast so she could get on. They, Hiccup, and Toothless took off, and I slid back into the water fully, my back spines splitting the water’s surface and I raced to the shore.

Once I reached the beach, crawling out of the water and drying myself off before turning back to human, the rest of the dragons had landed around me, and I could see Eustace coming in to land shortly. The boats weren’t there yet, of course, so I turned to address the Vikings.

“Eustace is certainly going to freak when he figures out exactly what happened to him,” I said quietly, “and more than likely at least his cousins and maybe the crew will as well. I’ll need your help keeping them all under control until I can explain this whole thing.”

“I really hope you knew what you were doing, putting this on him,” Stormfly cautioned. I nodded. “And yet you and Cami are the ones who are usually all for things like this. Yes, it was unorthodox, but he wouldn’t stop being a hazard to all of us if he didn’t learn the truth in some personal way. We discussed this.” Stormfly sighed and turned deep magenta in uncertainly and exasperation. “I still wonder sometimes why you got the gift, of all people,” she muttered, ignoring my glare.

The boats arrived shortly, Eustace still circling in the air trying to figure out how to land and drop off the two people he was carrying safely, and Lucy and Peter were the first out of the vessels. “What are you all standing around here for?” Lucy yelled, gesturing to the circling dragon. “Do something!” I chuckled and held up a hand. “Lucy, calm down, they’re in no danger, at least as long as they don’t just get dropped.” Lucy raised an eyebrow, and took in a breath in order to protest, before…

<Lucy!>

The roar turned every head. Eustace and finally begun to descend. Peter reacted by pulling out a sword, before I reached out a long tail and yanked it out of his hands, dropping it to the ground. He went for it, before a red-eyed glare from me stopped him. He was about to yell at me for being crazy, disarming him, when a shout from Edmund grabbed our attention.

“We’re coming in for a landing, everyone out of the way!” he yelled. Wisely, we all stepped back, and as Eustace came down, he dropped Caspian and Edmund to the sand below and then clumsily tumbled down to the ground himself, sending up a shower of sand and small rocks.

<Oww! How do you creatures live with this?!> he griped. Snorts of amusement arose from Toothless and Silverwings, and Eustace glared at the pair of them. <Looks like you’ll have to learn how to use your wings now, Eustace,> Silverwings jeered. I smiled and stepped forward, grabbing the new dragon’s attention. “There is a new kind of grace you have to learn to deal with when you’re a reptile, my friend,” I said. His response was to glare threateningly at me.

“Can someone please explain what’s going on here?” Susan snapped, walking up behind Peter with a hand on her bow. Edmund, who had been working on standing up after his rough landing and was dusting himself off, stepped up next to Eustace and gestured to the metallic colored dragon. “Uh, Susan, Peter, Lucy? Meet our cousin, Eustace.”

Silence reigned for a few moments, before Lucy rushed forward and grabbed Eustace’s forearm, looking it over. “My God, Eustace, what happened to you?” she asked. “We found a set of scorched clothes in a ravine that was full of gold and gems,” Caspian said. “He must have been tempted by the treasure, and something did this to him while he was in there.” Lucy didn’t reply, but she did gasp as she looked up Eustace’s arm. On it, there was a small golden band, tightly clamped to the skin and beginning to crack the scales.

“That’s weird,” I muttered under my breath. There were a couple things that weren’t adding up to me: when I had left Eustace’s clothes had changed right along with him, and anything else he’d been wearing should have done the same. That way there wasn’t risk of injury when he was morphed, and it wouldn’t be…embarrassing when he changed back. _Why would-_ I started thinking, before the answer hit me: more tampering by that spirit that I had felt nearby, who was still at large.

Lucy looked at Eustace and gestured to the band. He grimaced, and held his arm out to her. “So, I understand the temptation part,” she said, gingerly grabbing hold of the band and yanking it none-too-gently off, earning a screech of pain from Eustace, “but that doesn’t really explain why he’s suddenly a reptile now. I would have expected some terribly injury, or maybe reluctance to leave this place altogether, from what I’ve seen with others being tampered with.”

<Well, I could tell you if you people could actually hear me,> Eustace growled. “You speak Dragonese now, Eustace,” I said. “Only the dragons and I can understand that language.” He gave me a deadpan glare, but couldn’t ignore the fact that I was right.

“I’ll translate for him, if that’s alright,” Stormfly offered. She glanced at me, and I nodded slightly, then she looked at Eustace. <Uh, well,> he fumbled, no doubt uncomfortable with having to rely on another dragon now, <I went walking up that ridge over there into the island interior,> he paused for Stormfly to translate, <a-and I passed by the ravine full of the treasure It caught my eye, so I decided to take a closer look, when the ledge caved in.>

He continued on through his side of the story, up through the part about the demon preparing to kill him. Naturally, he left out some choice details, like the fact that the armband that had been clamped onto him was because he’d been greedy and taken it for himself.

<But, out of nowhere this…well, I don’t know what it was, but what looked like black fire appeared from the wall and melted the thing, and these ropelike things slammed it to the ground, and something else began to, uh, speak from the cracks in the wall.> Eustace paused again for Stormfly to translate, and I could see many of the Vikings and dragons looking directly at me, knowing exactly what he was describing. <But, that wasn’t the worst part. Whatever it was filled the ravine with black mist, darkening the sky and trapping me, and a horrid creature appeared, shrouded in shadows and with glowing red eyes.> Again a pause as Stormfly relayed, and I watched as the Pevensies and the crew of the ship began to fidget and glance around, as if expecting the thing to pop into view nearby.

Eustace sat down finally as he continued, relaxing somewhat in the company of those he knew, but still looking understandably distraught. <The…thing looked at me, directly, and then began speaking in something like riddles, a demented poem of sorts, and as it did so it held something in its claws that began glowing and flashing. It looked like lightning in a swirling storm cloud.> He looked around at us, before glancing down at himself. <It threw whatever the glowing thing was at me, and that was when I…I became….this!> He flared his wings, hissing angrily and clearly furious about the whole situation.

Susan looked out across the bay toward the ship in thought. “So, we have two demons here now, and warring with each other it seems.” “And we’re caught in the middle of it,” Caspian added. Lucy looked back up at Eustace, and asked the question on everyone’s mind.

“Is there any way to change him back?” “Not that I know of,” Caspian sighed in reply. We all looked at Eustace, who tensed up at the statement with anxiety. Edmund sighed. “Aunt Alberta will not be pleased,” he muttered.

Eustace deflated completely, paw hitting the ground dejectedly. Reepicheep walked up behind Peter, climbing up on his shoulder. “Sorry about your hand, Eustace,” he apologized, deciding there wasn’t really a better time. “I…can be a bit overzealous at times.” Eustace just gave him an empty look.

“Wait, wait, hold on a second,” Lucy piped up, glancing at me now. _Oh, here it comes,_ I thought, seeing her fit pieces together. “You have access to powers, like healing and this…transformation thing, right Hawken?” she asked. “Coriakin mentioned something about that too.” I sighed. “Yeah, somewhat,” was my reply.

Everyone’s eyes in the crew began to light up with flickers of hope, and Eustace leaned forward in anticipation of what came next. “Well, then, you should be able to change him back, right?” Susan continued her sister’s thoughts.

The Vikings held their breaths as they looked at me, waiting for an answer. They knew my real answer (or a least most of them did; none of us trusted Snotlout or the Twins with the info about the plan I’d made), and I gave them a slight nod to indicate they should get ready for the fireworks.

“No, I can’t,” I finally said. Everyone deflated again. “At least,” I continued, “I can’t yet.” Peter looked at me with confusion. “Uh, why not? If you can later, why not now?” “Because the requirements needed for the transformation to be reversed have not been fulfilled.”

“What?” was the unanimous, confused response. I snorted. “Of course, none of you were listening.” I turned to Eustace. “The creature you saw, would you choose to try and call it evil?” His eyes blazed. <Of course I would!> he snapped. <It did this to me without any cause I can think of, so->

“You’re wrong.”

That shut everyone up. I turned. “The riddles Eustace mentioned were a set of requirements he needs to complete before he is deemed able to be returned to how he should be,” I said. “There is only one demon, or demonic force, plaguing us. What Eustace encountered is most certainly a frightening apparition in just about any circumstance, but it’s not evil. It is an inherently good creature.”

“And how would you know that?” Peter interrupted. “Because he’s been there when it’s helped us out of a number of skirmishes,” Hiccup replied, drawing eyes to himself while giving me a nod of understanding.

“So, you’ve seen this thing as well?” Caspian asked. The Vikings and dragons all nodded in reply. “Well, then, what is it?”

“A dragon,” Camicazi replied simply. I nodded. “A shadow dragon, to be exact. They have the unique ability to convert themselves into a form of pure energy, and can travel through and control shadows, literally, when they are in that form. And,” I paused, just to put everyone on edge again, “there’s only one in existence. You could sort of say I know him well, too.”

<This thing is your friend?!> Eustace hissed incredulously, clearly getting angry again. I turned to him and smiled. “I am as close to him as anyone could possibly be. Do you know why?” <Why?> He growled, an inch away from pouncing on me. Fireworm and Toothless moved into position to restrain him. I shrugged rather nonchalantly, while putting on a sly, knowing grin and spreading my arms. “Because, I can _become_ the only Shadow Dragon there has ever been.”

I leapt up into the air, the pair of anthracite-black wings flaring out behind me and the jagged tail snaking out below. In an instant I was fully Shadow again, barley touching the ground as I melted into a hazy apparition.

<WHAT?!> Eustace roared, springing toward me with claws outstretched. Toothless grabbed him and slowed him down, but it wasn’t like it mattered. Eustace snapped at me, raking the air with his talons, but just passed right through me. I reared back and spread my form out into a massive cloud, barely recognizable as draconic now, as the other dragon-boy looked up at me with seething fury.

<You did this?! I was right, I was right! We can’t trust you, you’re evil just like the rest of them!> He roared again. I dove down and melted into the rocks as Peter, Caspian, and Edmund rushed forward, swords drawn and ready to fight. They didn’t get very far, as ropes of shadows, black as moonless night, shot upward and twined around them, holding them as well as Eustace still where they stood. I materialized in front of them once more.

“I suggest you slow down for a moment and listen to me,” I hissed, ruby eyes blazing. “I did not do this to harm anyone or as a result of ill temper, but as a lesson.” “What kind of lesson requires you to turn my cousin into a dragon?!” Edmund snapped. I leaned closer to him, nose-to-snout. “One in tolerance and prejudice,” I growled. “Eustace has proven to every one of us, quite clearly at that, that he is arrogant, self-centered, self-righteous and believes he is better than us in some way. I know you have to agree on that.”

There was a moment of silence as my point struck home, and even Eustace silenced, though soon enough defiant growls emanated from his direction. Finally Peter spoke up. “That doesn’t explain why you changed him into one of you,” he said. I shrugged. “He injured the dragon who is considered to be the hero of Berk, with ill reason, and believes that dragons are inherently evil and vicious.” I turned to face Eustace, who on principle shot a plume of flames into my face.

As with everything else they went right through and past me as I glared at him unfazed. “While I admit it may be in part what he’s been taught, right there is another example for why I did what I did: you have a terrible tendency to try and retaliate toward anyone you don’t like, no matter the means or if you’re the one wrong.” I leaned down and looked him right in the eye. “Dragons are much like people; they follow a set of laws often more strict than those of humans, and the ones loyal to those laws will not injure another sentient creature without _very_ good reason, and would much rather help than hurt you even after all you’ve already said and done.”

I stepped back and morphed again, this time to a Wind Fury, the shadow ropes dissolving as I did so. “I gave you a chance at a new perspective, Eustace,” I said, before looking around at everyone else. “As they say, walk a few miles in the other person’s shoes before cursing them.” I turned back to Eustace. “Instead of lamenting like you have been about how this is such a horrible curse and how I’m an evil scourge in your life, look at it as the opportunity it should be. You think of yourself as highly educated, so educate yourself some more. This time, you are in no position to look down on others while you’re doing so.”

No one moved for a moment, but finally, Caspian and his crew lowered their weapons, and the Vikings did the same. “You’ve put yourself on very unstable ground, Hawken,” Caspian warned however. “We trusted you enough to let you and your friends come with us on this mission, and then you do something like this. You’d better know what you’re doing.” With that final statement he turned away, followed by the Pevensie brothers.

Lucy, however, was still of a more forgiving nature, and came toward me as I shrank back to human. “Will you really change him back?” she asked concernedly. “I mean, once he’s, uh…” she trailed off. I nodded. “Yes, I will, when it’s clear he’s learned his lesson and humbled himself.” Looking at the sulking dragon, who was no longer confident of his ability to fight me into turning him back, I chuckled. “The higher the pedestal, the harder they fall, as they say. You have just fallen Eustace. It’s your job now to build up a sturdier base.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of the major flaws I ended up giving my character, he's definitely got an arrogant, "knows better than you do" streak to compete with Eustace's at times...mostly because I do as well. Luckily just like me he'll work through getting better at controlling that as time goes on....


	15. Shining Star

A number of us stayed at the island over the night to figure things out. By the time we’d all drifted off to sleep, Eustace had figured out how to walk with some dignity at least, but so far still kept well away from the other dragons. Not surprisingly, he stayed a very, very good distance from me too.

As the sun set, I lay on the beach up against a rock, staring up at the stars, trying to spot any constellations that would look like the ones back home, with little luck. Eventually, I heard footsteps making their way over to me, but I didn’t even have to look over to know who their owner was. Camicazi slowly settled down next to me, cross-legged, and started sharpening the sword I’d given her over a year before. Even after all her time fighting with it, the Night Fury profile and her name were clear on the metal.

“You took a dangerous risk,” she said. “I know, I supported it, and still do, but I wonder if you may have taken it a little far. Eustace could well be more of a danger than before.” I shook my head in reply. “No, he won’t. He knows any violence he commits will lengthen the time he’s stuck this way,” I said. “And the dragons have fewer qualms about forcibly dealing with their own than people. He won’t risk anything, not now.”

There was silence for a few minutes, punctuated only by the sharpening stone over the blade, before Cami turned to look at me again. “What is it we’re really up against?” she asked. “And don’t give one of those stupid, roundabout cryptic answers you usually do.” I glanced at her and smirked at the jab, but then sighed. “A demon, maybe many, that’s about all I know. That’s one reason we’ve gotten into so many spats on this trip: they affect the mind, the soul more than physical, usually. Plus, I’m sure you’ve had so rather disturbing dreams on this trip, right?” She nodded. “Last night I’m not sure I got any sleep. He do you fight a demon?”

Another bout of silence. “I don’t really know,” I finally admitted. “They fear God, but that’s about the only thing they will fear. If we want to beat this we’re all going to have to band together, and probably pray for some insight. I don’t trust whatever power lies within those swords to really help us, either. They may be a key, in some way, but certainly not the whole puzzle.” I glanced back up at the stars, and silence reigned once more, for a few minutes.

“What do you fear most?” I finally asked. Cami looked at me, surprised, and then spent a few minute with odd looks crossing her face as she tried to figure out how to answer. “Honestly, I fear crossing the ocean,” she admitted. “I mean, it’s exciting to sail ships, but knowing the creatures we ride, and what kinds of scars I’ve seen on a few, I can’t help but wonder what might be down there.” “But do you fear what’s down there, or what you think might happen when you meet it?” I queried. She looked at me. “More the latter. Why do you ask, anyway?”

“Eh, a bad feeling, like every other one I’ve had on this trip. Unfortunately, there isn’t much we can do about it right now. We have a long trip ahead of us, so try to get at least some sleep tonight. We’ll all need it.”

* * *

“Hawken, get up!”

Someone was shaking my shoulder somewhat violently, but the voice wasn’t angry this time around. If anything, it sounded excited. I groaned at being awoken so early, and turned to see who it was this time. As it so happened, it was Astrid.

“What is it?” I asked groggily, slowly getting to my feet and brushing off the sand that had clung to my clothes. “Look,” she said, pointing upward. I turned my head and followed her gesture.

A bluish looking, bright star-like object hung in the sky above, clearly visible even in the bright morning sun. “Well, I guess that’s what we were waiting for,” I commented, and turned toward the dragons. All of them were fast asleep still, and Eustace, unsurprisingly, was off a ways past them, still snoring up a storm louder than he did when human. I shook my head in mild amusement, before flaring open a pair of wings and snapping them together.

BANNGGGG!!!

“Everyone up!” I announced, holding down a chuckle as the sleeping forms jerked awake at the loud sound. “The blue star is here, no time to waste!” One by one, the group craned their heads upward to take in the object shining down with sapphire light, bright as the moon.

<So-so it’s real?> Eustace growled, sounding slightly relieved but also still more than unhappy with his situation.

<It’s right in front of you,> Thorn grumbled back, also unhappy about being woken up early. “Oh, quit your griping,” I quipped. “We need to move.”

Within a half hour, we were all back on the ship, save for Eustace. Being on deck meant being near me and the other dragons, so he chose to fly for the moment, putting distance between us while still staying in sight of the ship. Whenever he thought no one was looking, however, he would maneuver around in the air, in barrel rolls and dives, seemingly enjoying at least the aspect of being able to fly. Whenever I caught sight of it, I smiled. It had been a short time, but he was starting to learn, starting to get used to the idea.

The ship got on well for the first hour or two past that, riding a strong westerly current. I went down to hang with the dragons for a bit, who were almost ready to go for another fish run (takes a lot of seafood to feed 7 dragons). While down there, however, a noticeable chill suddenly permeated the room.

<What was that?> Fireworm queried, looking around. “I don’t know,” I muttered, “but I’ve got a bad feeling again.” <I’m going up above deck to see if there’s something coming,> Thorn said. <I’ve never felt that before, not even before a storm.> She headed up through the hallway toward the stairs, and Silverwings shivered for a moment before he followed after. <I’m heading up too,> he said.

Toothless, however, had the bigger revelation, turning to face me with large, concerned eyes. <The ship is slowing down,> he said. I stared at him for a moment, realized what that meant, and immediately bolted for the deck. Coming up top, I nearly ran straight into Camicazi, who had been heading down to find me.

“Hawken, we’ve lost all wind,” she said, “and the western current has disappeared.” I blinked, and ran to the side of the ship, looking over the edge to the sea below. The water looked calm enough, no sign of disturbance or any surface cross currents, but I needed to check in person.

“I’ll be right back,” I said to Cami. “If anyone is still below and doesn’t know, tell them, now.” I leapt over, changing to my usual sea dragon form, and dove under the waves.

The ocean was as still as the air above, only remnant waves rippling the surface. The western current that had been present since the Lone Islands had vanished. Below, a shallow (relatively) seamount rose up, the sandy ocean floor only a few hundred feet down through the crystal water. That alone could be enough to disrupt a current, but not stop it altogether.

“You’re going to get nowhere, you realize that?” a haunting voice rasped. I spun around, sending vortices of water swirling away around me. The greenish mist had shown itself again, underwater of all things but quite apparently unaffected by the different medium. Out of it formed a ghoulish apparition, humanlike in appearance but with a ghostly echo of a tail and wings, as if mocking my own usual appearance. I did not doubt that possibility.

“Leave us be,” I growled, releasing bubbles of air. The… _thing_ laughed, as if amused by what it saw as a short-sight. “So it turns out you’re not so intelligent,” it taunted. “You can’t even figure out how”- Its words were cut off as visible gills appeared on my neck. “You were saying?” I growled. “As I said before, leave us, now. You hold no power over me, nor any of my friends here.”

The apparition snarled in irritation. “Your modes of transport are gone, you are many miles away from your destination, and you still lack the key you seek. You’re never getting there.” “For a demon who’s been around thousands of years you’re the unintelligent one,” I hissed back. “When has your kind ever won out in the end? We have dragons, there’s always a way to get there, and eventually we’ll find everything we need. I’ll not repeat myself again: leave us, leave this land, leave this earth while you still have space to run.”

It scoffed. “My master has different plans. Once we do deal with these people,” it gestured to the ship, “we’ll move on to your dear friends. You are too late; you’ll never get what you need. After all, we already have it!”

I spun and lashed out with my tail, sparking energy, but the demon vanished completely, leaving behind nothing but a trace of green that washed away, and a haunting, cackling laugh. I growled in frustration and released my emotions in an explosion of electricity, before swimming back to the surface and leaping out, changing to Night Fury. I curved downward and landed hard on the deck, losing the scales but keeping my wings.

Caspian approached me first, coming up out of the stairwell and looking around. “I heard something out there, did something happen?” he asked warily, not hiding his newfound distrust of me. I ignored the tone and nodded. “Sorry, that noise was me, I got frustrated. Our little “mist”-chief maker is still hanging around, and it’s trying to discourage us from pressing onward.” Caspian raised an eyebrow. “A demon would be powerful enough to change the ocean currents?” I chuckled grimly. “For a time at least, they’re not limited to the dimensions we are. He’ll probably do more than that too, if he can manage it, but I do not want to give”-

I was cut off as the wind began to pick up once more, but now, it blew in an easterly direction, pulling us back the way we’d come. Grumbling in frustration, I started heading down below. “Pull the sails down, the less drag we have to deal with the better!” I snapped. “Are the dragons still in their room?” Caspian followed me, shaking his head. “Thorn and Silverwings took to the air earlier; the rest went to ‘help’ the crew row the ship.” “Well, that’s not going to be enough. I do have a different idea, though.”

As he’d said, the dragons were doing their best to try and row alongside the crew, though finding it hard to maneuver the oars. The Vikings were there as well, and Reepicheep, too small to even hold up an oar, was keeping time for them.

“Toothless, Fireworm, Barfbelch! I need you, pronto!” I announced as I walked in, cutting Reep off much to his annoyance. Toothless dropped his oar gently, then looked up at me <What is it?> I nodded toward the stairs and began to head up again. Caspian caught my arm before I could, however.

“What are you doing?” he asked. “Granted they’re not the best rowers we’ve ever had, but if they stop we may very well end up heading backward.” “Yes, but a small delay is good if it means preparing a faster method,” I returned curtly. He let go of me, but till was clearly confused. I headed to the top of the deck unhindered now, found the thickest ropes I could lying around, and began tying massive loops onto the front and sides of the ship. Stormfly walked up onto the deck first, and crawled over next to me. “And what exactly is it we are doing, Hawken?” she asked. I smirked. “You guys are going to use these ropes to tow the ship,” I said matter-of-factly. Her eyes brightened in understanding. “Oh! Okay, I get it now. Why didn’t we think of this first?” I nodded, not giving an answer to the question as I looked up to the skies, searching for one more reptile. Thorn and Silverwings had landed and the other dragons had come up onto the deck, catching on to what I was doing, so only one was unaccounted for.

<Eustace!> I roared out, and a few moments later he came into view, appearing in front of the ship. <What do you want?> he snapped, snarling slightly. <The ship is going to start drifting backward without help,> I explained. <Grab a loop and start pulling!> <Why should I listen to you?> he growled back I sighed. <Because I’m the only one who is able to change you back, for one. And for another, the longer it takes us to get this mission over with, the longer it will take to change you.>

He snorted and flew out of view anyway. I was just about to fly off after him when something tapped me on the shoulder. “Something going on up here?” Reepicheep asked, hanging off a rope on the mast. I sighed and looked over at him. “Well, if we’re actually going to make any time, we need Eustace’s help, and of course he’s not going to listen to the teen he thinks ruined his life by turning him into a dragon.” “Well, I wonder why that ever could be?” Reep replied sarcastically.

“Look, I did it to teach him a lesson he needs to learn, and so far he’s also been more out of the way than ever before,” I quipped, not in the mod to be discussing what had already happened. Reepicheep hopped off the rope and scrambled up onto the prow of the ship. “Well, I had a long talk with him last night on the beach, he might just listen to me now,” he said. “I’ll see what I can do.” With that, he scurried forward, disappearing from view.

I turned to help Silverwings tie off one last loop of rope, and he grabbed onto it, ready to go. All the others were in place with a loop somewhere, so really all that-

“OOOOFFF!”

The ship jolted forward suddenly, and had I not had a pair of wings that snapped outward on instinct, I would have landed on my butt on the deck. Hard. Hiccup, who had just reached the stairs, did fall over, and as he picked himself up, he yelled, “What in the world was that from?!” I glanced at him, then looked to the front of the ship. The sight managed to give me a genuine smile, and I called out, “Thank you Reep!”

Eustace had wrapped his tail around the prow of the ship, and was towing it forward as fast as he could, and he didn’t actually look too put out by it. I signaled to the other dragons, who grabbed their ropes again and leapt upward, pulling even more. I myself ran to the back of the ship and catapulted over, changing to the biggest sea dragon I could think of, the Doomfang, and began pushing on the stern. Soon, the ship picked up speed and was racing forward, leaving behind a massive wake and making its way straight toward the azure speck of light in the sky ahead.

Up on deck, I heard the rest of the crew start cheering, as we were finally actually making some progress now (well, that, and the fact that they no longer had to be stuck rowing). We were finally on our way, and up ahead, I heard Eustace finally openly enjoying himself. Sometimes, it’s a little hard work that makes the difference.

We weren’t out of danger yet, though. As I swam forward, pushing the vessel along, that chill of being watched returned. I glanced behind me, and spotted the barest hints of the mist again. It was probably childish, but I stuck my tongue out in a taunt. Ripples of anger filed the waves, before the demon disappeared again. There wasn’t much he could do at that point, but then, we were heading in the direction of where their stronghold would be. There would be plenty of clashes soon to come.


	16. Romandil

The day moved by quickly as we worked moving the ship. The dragons often traded places so some of them could rest at any given time. Flying for many hours on end isn’t so hard on them, but pulling the ship behind them took its toll. Plus, each needed time to go out for fish runs to keep their energy up, though as a whole we never stopped moving forward. Eustace was the only one who didn’t take a break, staying at his position at the prow and pulling forward. I took a couple rest stops as well, though not as many as the other dragons, and at one point during my rest, I was called to the deck by Caspian.

“I…was wanting to thank you, and apologize, for some of our actions before,” he said. “With what happened on the last island, I was starting to think you were nothing more than another mischief maker, but now, I’m seeing we would have been stuck without you and your friends.” He glanced forward to Eustace. “And I’ll admit, it’s been easier on everyone with him off the ship most of the time.” I smiled and nodded. “Well, I don’t blame the thoughts you had. I effectively turned Eustace’s life upside down for the moment, so suspicion is rather normal. I can come off as a bit harsh sometimes I’ll admit too.” Caspian nodded back, then looked around before leaning toward me.

“Don’t tell Lucy I said this,” he whispered, “but I think this is the most helpful that boy has been the whole trip too.” I grinned and started chuckling at that, nodding my head in agreement, before he dismissed me and I returned to my previous position pushing the ship along.

As the sun began to dip toward the horizon once more and evening set in, from up ahead at the bow I heard Eustace call out, <I think I see it!> Immediately, Stormfly conveyed the message to everyone on deck, and soon after everyone below scurried up top as well, myself included. Sure enough, up ahead the “blue star” had stopped moving in the sky, hovering over a dark spot on the ocean. As we continued to race forward, the spot grew larger, until it could be recognized as a moderately sized island.

“We’re almost there,” I whispered to myself, before looking around. For once, I could see no signs of danger, and above the deck, strong westerly winds were filling the sails once more as well. We reached the island soon enough, and as the dragons let go of the ropes the crew dropped the anchor into the waves, securing a position offshore. I smirked as I overheard Reepicheep congratulation Eustace and keeping the boy’s spirits up.

The island itself was actually rather large up close, though not quite the size of Berk. A good half of it was flanked by sheer cliffs and small waterfalls cascading over the sides. Any place that was flat enough was covered over by thick, subtropical forest; we were no longer very far north at all. The Vikings mounted their dragons as the crew launched the rowboats, and we all headed ashore together.

Near one end of the island was a small beach. As if visitors were expected, a small, half-hidden path snaked up the slope toward the interior of the island. “Looks like this place has people somewhere,” Fishlegs commented to me. “Hopefully we’ll find someone friendly.” “Not all people are very friendly to outsiders though, Fish,” I replied. “We’ve been lucky so far.”

We headed up the path, the dragons having to stay either on the beach or hovering above the thick canopy of trees. Along the path were strewn pieces of what looked like ruins: we passed stone walls crumbling down onto the dirt, under ancient arches, and past statues too faded to make out. On some of them, however, when I looked closely, there were still faint symbols, some far more recently carved but many markings familiar: the letters of the English language, Latin, even Asian pictographs, but most prominent were a myriad of Hebrew letters, stretching all across the walls. These were from all around the world.

“There’s something strange going on here,” I whispered to Hiccup. He nodded as he took in the carvings, and gripped the hilt of his carved sword.

We passed through a series of arches, each just a little more taken care of than the last, and eventually wandered into a clearing. In the middle lay a massive table carved of granite, and laid out on top, a veritable banquet. “Good gosh, look at it all!” the twins both exclaimed simultaneously, heading forward immediately to sample the delicacies set before us.

“Wait,” Drinian ordered, everyone glancing at him and Ruff and Tuff looking like they’d been slapped. “Something’s not right here,” he elaborated. Caspian nodded, and motioned toward the other end of the table. Lucy and Edmund followed him while Hiccup and I skirted the other side, walking toward a space that was clear of food. Lying on top was a knife, carved of blackest obsidian, and screaming familiarity.

“Edmund, Peter, do you recognize this?” I queried. They both walked up to the table’s edge and peered at the weapon. Edmund was the first to look up at me.

“This is the stone knife,” he exclaimed. “This must be Aslan’s table!” I raised an eyebrow in partial question. “Surely you know who he is?” Edmund asked, noting my expression. I nodded. “Yes, but not how much of it was fact, and how much was truly fiction.” “Well, Aslan was temporarily defeated by the witch Jadis, and this knife was her symbol for that victory,” Peter elaborated. “That was just before we went into battle against her, our first in this place. Aslan must have placed it here after the war.”

“What is that?” We turned to see Susan gesturing to something past us, at the very end of the table. I turned to look, Edmund turning on his flashlight and pointing it in the same direction, illuminating three odd lumps arranged around the table. We couldn’t quite make it out in the evening gloom, even with Ed’s light, so I held up my hand and heated it up like a Fireworm’s skin, until it glowed white. Then, we could discern the strange objects.

They were three old men, covered in cobwebs and leaves.

Metallic sounds immediately pervaded the space as nearly everyone unsheathed a sword or other weapon on instinct, including me. When the men didn’t react, I stepped closer, Edmund and Caspian following. The men were completely still, covered in more than just the webs and leaves, but also thin vines and broken twigs from the nearby trees and trailing plants. Caspian slowly angled his sword down toward one of them, until it came in contact with a large ring on the man’s hand. On it, a symbol not terribly different from the crests we had seen on previous islands, and people.

“This is Lord Ravilian,” he said, then slowly pointed to the others. “That must be Lord Mavermore, and then Lord Argos.” I warily bent forward to inspect their predicament, and as I did so, a faint breath of air hit me in the face. Surprised, I leapt back.

“They’re breathing!” I hissed in shock. Caspian looked at me in surprise, and then bent forward toward the other two men. Their chests rose and fell steadily too. “So are these two. They’re… they’re under a spell or something, a trance.” I let out a breath of concern, and began glancing around to find a possible cause.

“It’s the food!” Thuggory yelled suddenly, causing the whole crew to fall back away from the table. The twins looked up anxiously, half-eaten pears in both of their hands. “No, no I don’t think it’s that,” I said. “If this is the table we’re looking for, it should be the one thing that wouldn’t have any black magic over it. Hard to have a catalyst that’s been neutralized.”

Lucy’s eyes suddenly lit up at my remark. “Wait a minute. If this is Aslan’s table, then there should be….” She trailed off as she stepped up to where we were, and began cleaning off the leaves and twigs that had fallen around where the obsidian knife lay. Sure enough, surrounding it were 7 sword-shaped grooves, cut into the stone and edged in some sort of unidentifiable metal. “Get the swords!” she exclaimed.

Peter threw the first one to me, the sword he’d been holding on to since the Lone Islands, and I caught it by the hilt and set it down in the first indent on the table. Edmund and Caspian both laid down the ones they carried, and at that point I noticed electric sparks appearing between the swords and the metal edging. But, it was more important to get the rest of the swords, so we carefully cleared the brush away from the sleeping men, and found their swords still hanging from their belts. Once they’d all been carefully laid in place, the electric sparks I’d seen coalesced into a constant stream, and the swords and metal began to heat up and glow in a soft yellowish light. The connections between the indents filled with the same light, and somewhere beneath the table, a slow whirring sound emanated. But, one slot was still empty, and like electricity trying to cross a broken circuit, the energy couldn’t quite fill its place.

“We’re still missing one,” Susan stated somewhat pointlessly. Camicazi nodded and stepped forward, gesturing to the obsidian knife, which all of the swords pointed to now in the center of the circle. “Without the last one, the catalyst won’t react, will it?” she muttered dejectedly.

From below the cliffs, back by the beach, Silverwings yelled out, <Hawken, look up!> I did, toward the sky, and my eyes widened. “Hey guys, look up!” I stated loudly, everyone following my gaze. The blue “star” we’d been following was moving, and what’s more, it was getting closer to us.

Everyone drew a sword in caution as the “star” raced like a bullet down toward us, and as it came close enough, my draconic eyes caught a flurry of what looked like translucent wings fluttering and flaring out as whatever it was neared. We backed up as it came slowly down, but it didn’t land in our clearing. Instead, the object descended beyond the trees, and disappeared from view. The light dimmed, and a few moments later, someone stepped into view from down a path we had not traversed.

It was a blonde woman, dressed in a flowing gown wrapped by a belt that looked like it was made out of gold. At her waist, a shining polished sword and scabbard hung. What caught everyone’s eyes, however, was the pair of nearly see-through feathery looking wings that extended in a wide arc above her head. As she came closer, they folded down further and disappeared behind her back. The woman stopped in front of us, smiled, and then spoke.

“Be at peace, travelers, I mean you no harm.” She tapped her foot on the ground, and with a flash, sparks appeared and lit the candles all across the table. “I am Lilianda, guardian of the island of Romandil, named for my grandfather.” She looked at us curiously. “After your long journey, surely you are hungry?” she asked. “Please, eat. The food here is for those like you.”

“Then what happened to them?” Tuffnut blurted out, gesturing to the three old men. Lilianda glanced at them, and nodded. “These men were half mad when they reached here, weak and easily influenced. Evil reached them before I could, and they’ve been set under a trance. I have nothing that can break them out of it, as it is linked to the power they are amassing now.”

Reassured, the rest of the crew moved forward toward the free food. Caspian, Edmund and Peter headed toward Lilianda instead. “Are… are you a star?” Ed asked. Lilianda chuckled and shook her head. “No, what you saw was a device Coriakin built many, many years ago. We use it as a signal, a guide, or I can use it to travel. Though it certainly looks like a star, it is a messenger.” She glanced curiously at the three, as if knowing what they were going to say next.

“You are most beautiful,” Caspian said, and I muffled a groan. Lilianda pursed her lips. “If that is a distraction, I’m sure we can change that,” she said. In response the trio simultaneously yelled, “NO!!” I snickered, amused at their daze. Beauty is skin deep, I was never greatly affected by looks, but it was fun to watch others trip over someone attractive.

Lilianda ignored the loud response and gestured to us four, then the other two Pevensies, Hiccup, and Astrid. “Follow me,” she ordered, and turned around, walking down the path she had come from. On her back, we finally saw a glimpse of the little device we had followed, thin wings compactly folded up and still faintly glowing.

She maneuvered down the path, passing over hard stone but barely making a sound, while the rest of us trudged noisily along behind her. We followed her to a ledge, overlooking the ocean below and giving a clear view for miles. Visible in the distance was another large island, seemingly alive as it heaved with black and flashed with ominous lights.

“There is the source of our troubles,” Lilianda said. “Servants of Lucifer, gathering there to prepare for a direct overtaking of the surrounding lands. They have not taken here yet only because I still stand over this place, but before long I will not be able to fight against them either.” She pointed back toward the table. “Their plan has been in motion for centuries, only now has it manifested visibly. The leader of this army knew there was a power that could end all their work in a moment’s time, and so split the opposing power into those swords you placed upon the table, in hopes that you would not find them all.” She looked directly at us now. “No one alive knows what the power the demons wield is, but if you do not find that seventh sword, then Lucifer’s army will be too strong to hold back from this land before long.”

“And who is this Lucifer, exactly?” Hiccup asked quietly from behind Caspian. “A modern name for Satan, or the devil,” I answered. “Evil incarnate. Demons are the fallen who follow him, and are those we’ve dealt with already this trip.”

“Then we certainly must hurry,” Caspian stated. “Lilianda, do you know where the seventh sword is?” Lilianda nodded, and pointed to the island in the distance. “It is within the dark island. The final lord you originally sought was cast wayward by a storm and wrecked there, and they keep him captive within as a precaution, placed somewhere we do not know.” She turned to us again. “You will need great courage and strength, for they will do all they can to tear you apart, if not physically then mentally and spiritually. Be strong my friends.” She looked directly at me. “They will try to come down upon you especially, as a direct servant of God. You have been clearly marked to them and they will try to take you any way they can.” She laid a hand on my shoulder. “I cannot join you, for I still protect this island, but I tell you, follow your heart. I pray strength for all of you.”

She stepped back, and the device awakened, wings unfurling above her. “Will we see you again?” Peter asked, still somewhat enraptured by her. Lilianda smiled. “You might. The future is not known. Goodbye for now, however.” Then, with one sweep of the wings she lifted upward, light from the wings nearly blinding us as she disappeared over the forest.

I looked at Caspian, waiting for some sort of action. “We’ll head out in the morning,” he decided. “It is far too late tonight, and this will be unlike anything else we’ve ever done, so we will need our rest.” He looked pointedly at me and then Hiccup. “Get the dragons to eat and rest well tonight, and make sure your friends are battle-ready.” He fell silent, and all our heads turned once more to the pulsing clouds hovering over the dark island.

“Something very bad is going to happen, isn’t it?” Edmund muttered. I nodded. “Yes, probably very bad indeed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ironically, some more faith-related writing in here I no longer quite hold the same belief in; believe it or not, "Lucifer" (translating as "bringer of light") may well actually be a Latin name for the Messiah...ah, but that's a discussion for another place, another time.


	17. Still Waters

There is a saying, old and often used, but more than appropriate: Still waters run deep. That’s exactly how I felt staring at the almost glasslike surface of the sea, reflecting the island that oozed that scent, that feel of danger.

“I’ve got a really bad feeling, Hawken,” Fishlegs whispered. We were all on the ship again, everyone in full battle gear and the Vikings standing tensely by each of their dragons. Even Ruff and Tuff were avoiding arguments, which told everyone just how bad we all felt. I was just myself at the moment, but ready to change at the first sign of anything. Only Eustace and Reepicheep weren’t present, the two of them scouting the island from high above.

As we entered the first drifting fingers of fog that rolled off the land, Tuffnut leaned toward me and whispered (as much as one of the Twins can whisper), “So, what do you think is in there?” “Your darkest dreams and nightmares,” I replied, my expression darkening as thoughts of what could lie ahead raced through my mind.

Caspian walked up to the front of the ship, standing on the raised platform there that led to the stairs in the prow. “My friends,” he stated loudly, “we are all standing here in the face of a great danger, but I know that every one of you here has proven their worth to me, no matter be they my crew or our allies. You are all strong, you do not grow weary under pressure, so stand strong here with me, and do not give in to your temptations, your fears.” He stepped up the steps a short way, and glanced toward the gloom ahead.

“I do not know what we may face or what the outcome will be, but if we must fight, then fight for the reasons you came here. Think of those men, women and children we are here to save, or avenge. Think of our leader and friend Aslan. Think of Narnia, for which we will fight to protect.”

As he stepped down, a cheer went up through the crew, stopping him. “For Narnia!!” the crew all yelled out unanimously, as the Vikings and I simply gave our battle cries and joined them, raising our weapons above our heads as the dragons roared behind us. Then, as the cheers died down, we all stood once more at the ready.

The fog began to close in around us, deepening and replaced with a blackish cloud that clung to the rocks and columns surrounding us in the water. It blocked out the sun that had shone in the clear sky before, plunging the ship into permanent twilight. The only illumination came from the unnerving greenish flashes that appeared in the fog, many times emanating from somewhere deep in the center of the main island. Distant shrieks and hissing noises kept everyone wide awake. We could not see anything at all clearly, however, as the fog was far too thick.

“Hawken, there’s something moving up there!” Cami hissed, pointing above us to where a blanket of black clouds billowed out, blocking the sky between the arches of rock. Thin tendrils of the green mist we’d become so accustomed to seeing were wriggling toward us through the air, whispers filling our ears. The soft sound of rattling scales began as I covered myself in Night Fury skin, and my eyes glowed that famous translucent green.

The mist dropped down and onto the deck of the ship, I watched the men turn to face it as it slid past, forming randomly into figures no doubt familiar and taunting to them. One went up to Hiccup, and the face of his father appeared, a deep scowl written across the expression.

“You’re a failure,” the faux voice of Stoick hissed, glaring at Hiccup. “You’ve only been lucky, but a handful of battles don’t change who you are.” “Leave me alone,” Hiccup hissed back, waving away the taunting demon with his sword. “You know it’s true,” it growled. “You disappoint me, your father, and you are only around still because your friends favor you. You would have died long ago otherwise, pathetic and weak as you are.”

“He said leave,” I snapped, swiping a tail through the figure. The spirit appeared to flinch, and whirled on me, but only hissed and disappeared. Hiccup glanced at me, and a hardness appeared in his eyes I’d rarely seen. “Don’t listen to them, Hiccup,” I tried to reassure. “They prey on what they know you hate to hear, don’t let it get to you.” He nodded. “Hard to when you lived through nearly a decade of belittling,” he muttered. “I went through it too, you know,” I said. “Yeah, and what a shining example you came out to be.” “Yeah, very funny.”

Behind me, I heard Edmund arguing with another apparition. “You’re dead, go away.” “Oh, you could never kill me,” a feminine sounding voice taunted him. “I’ll always be here, alive, in your mind, silly boy!” “I said GO AWAY!” Edmund yelled.

“Edmund, are you alright?” Susan asked. The others couldn’t see the spirits, I realized, just the ones being tormented. “He’s being taunted like the rest of us,” I said. “They’ve found us, and it probably won’t be long before they actually try to-“

“Nooooooooo!!”

Every person jerked at the nearly inhuman sounding wail. Ruffnut and Thuggory heard it clearest, and both ran over to the side of the ship, peering through the gloom. “Keep away!!” the voice wailed again. “Over there!” Ruff yelled, pointing toward a dark outline in the haze. Drinian turned the wheel and steered the ship toward it, and an outcrop of sharp rocks slowly came into focus. It was too dark, however, to see anything on it.

“Keep away!” the voice sounded again, this time yelling more than wailing. I turned toward Edmund. “Ed, you still have your flashlight on you?” He nodded and pulled it out, shining the beam across the rocks. Standing on a tiny indent in the outcrop was a man, covered in torn and dirty rags, a wild look on his face and a clean, gleaming sword grasped tightly in his hands.

“Keep away!” he yelled again, wielding his sword. “We will not leave,” Caspian yelled back. “We do not fear you!” “Nor I you!” the man snapped back. “You will not defeat me!”

“Wait, wait, that’s the sword!” Thuggory yelled. “That’s the seventh sword, we need it!” At hearing this, the little man dropped his arms slightly in confusion, and backed up to a higher point on the rocks. “Let’s get him on board!” Caspian said. “It must be Lord Rhoop!” The crew grabbed mooring hooks and were about to throw them over to bring the ship in, when the flap of wings and a roar stopped them.

<I’ve got him!> Eustace yelled, coming into view from out of the dark and swooping down to grab Rhoop. He lifted the frazzled man up and flew to the ship, dropping the man as gently as he could to the deck before backing up into the fog above. Quick as lightning, Rhoop jumped to his feet again and swung his sword, forcing everyone to back up.

“Back, demons!” he yelled. “No! Stand down!” Caspian yelled, waving his men off. “We are not here to hurt you, Lord Rhoop. I am your king, Caspian.”

That broke the ice, finally. As Eustace turned away to scour the area gain, Rhoop stood up slowly, the manic look fading as he turned to take in Caspian. “Caspian?” he whispered, standing up straight finally. “My Lord? You have come for me?” His eyes flicked to the dragons. Stormfly waved an awkward paw in hello. “Then-then what are those _things_ doing here?!” “Calm yourself, they are friends, not like what you may have encountered before, or here,” Caspian reassured.

Rhoop raised a suspicious eyebrow, but then slowly turned toward the crew. “You should not have come,” he said shakily. “This place is far too dangerous. Turn this ship around before it’s too late!” “We have the sword,” Snotlout spoke up, “so let’s go, we have what we need!” Caspian nodded, and turned to help navigate the boat away, but Rhoop stopped him, grabbing hold of his shoulder.

“Do not think!” he yelled. “Do not let them know your fears, or they will become them!”

A sudden silence ensued, as every person had that thought sink in. Then, two unanimous voices spoke up: “Oh, no.” I turned slowly, to see both Edmund and Hiccup standing stock still, staring at each other with wide, guilty eyes.

“What, did you two just _think of_?!!” Astrid exclaimed, eyes widening as she looked at Hiccup. He and Edmund glanced at each other again, before racing to either side of the ship. “Oh, I am so sorry!” Hiccup said, panic lacing his voice. “No, you need to tell us, what is it?” I asked, more than just a cold shiver running down my spine this time around.

“Uh, guys, there’s something moving over there,” Fishlegs observed, pointing to a line of low rock outcrops outlined by what little light did filter in. I peered closer, before yelling back to Fish, “I don’t see anything, are you sure?” I glanced at him, and as soon as I did so, his eyes widened. “Look again,” he squeaked. I turned my head, and peered into the gloom.

They were not rock outcrops. The humps outlined in the dark were disappearing one by one, sinking into the waves that were beginning to stir and pick up. Worse, the wake left behind by each one suggested they were moving toward us.

“Oh, no,” I whispered, before yelling out, “There’s something in the water! Brace yourselves, it’s coming this way!”

All of the humps were gone now, instead replaced by a massive wake and a dark shadow that cut through the water. “It’s gone under the boat!” one of the crew members cried. “No, it’s coming back around!” Ruffnut yelled, pointing at the waves. The wake had passed s and circled, and headed again in a beeline straight toward-

BAMMMM!!

Something incredibly huge slammed into the ship, sending everyone sprawling and the vessel spinning across the surface of the darkened sea.


	18. Jormungandr

“Get on the dragons!”

Hiccup and Astrid both gave me slightly confused glances, but nodded and raced to Thorn and Toothless, the other teens following suit. I morphed Night Fury and took to the air, hovering above the scene and modifying my eyes, trying to peer through the gloom and into the water below.

I almost wished I hadn’t. Night vision and compensation for looking through the water’s surface still only gave a fuzzy image of what was underneath us, but I could still see the body curling under the water only a hundred meters or so from the ship, coils upon coils. A fanned tail whipped underneath the ship still. Whatever it was, was nearly as wide as the ship itself, and thousands of feet long. And it was about to surface.

I dove down and landed again on the deck, changing back and pointing. “Over there!” I yelled, gathering everyone’s attention. Caspian and the crew followed my finger, just as a jet of water erupted from beyond the prow. The tail whipped over our heads, drenching us in seawater, and beyond the creature’s head rose out of the water.

It was a massive serpent, bearing a head maybe 30 feet long or more. From around the back of its head extended hideous twisted horns, and razor teeth edged the upper jaw, extending down over the lower. When it looked at us, the eyes blazed like twin furnaces, burning through us. The neck was thin, but muscular and studded with bony protrusions and angled spines extending all the way down across its back. Worst of all, when it did look down at us, it focused directly on Edmund, and then Hiccup.

“Hiccup,” I hissed, walking up next to him and Toothless, “what, on earth, _is_ that thing?!” He glanced down at me from where he sat, and stammered out, “I-I’m s-sorry Hawken, I didn’t mean-“ “No, don’t beat around the bush!” I snapped. “What is it?”

“Jormungandr.”

My blood froze. In my time with the Vikings, and through the stories I had read I had heard plenty enough about the supposedly mythical sea serpent to know at least one thing: we were in great danger. I watched as the serpent began to move toward us, slow but deliberate and towering high above the ship. He lowered his head down level with the ship, and under the gaze of the serpent, everyone moved back as far as they dared.

<Such a pathetic crew, cowering just under my gaze,> the serpent jeered, grinning a terrifying smile. I jerked and glanced at Toothless, who nodded. <We have no spoken advantage,> he whispered, <he’ll hear everything we say.> At this, the serpent locked again his gaze on Hiccup and Toothless, began to rear back with mouth agape, and-

RROOOAAARRR!!!

Eustace shot down from the mist above and released a jet of flame, striking Jormungandr across the snout, and then clamped onto the serpent’s head, biting and clawing as hard as he could. I saw Reepicheep jump down and stab his sword between the serpent’s scales, hitting the soft flesh beneath. Jormungandr screeched and thrashed his head, throwing Reep to the ropes of the mast. I turned back to face Eustace as he bit down on the serpent, who screeched again and snapped his head violently to the side, throwing Eustace off and clear over the boat.

<Your wings! Open your wings, now!> Silverwings yelled out, clambering toward the side of the ship as if he could help just yet. Eustace heard him, though, and flared his wings, flipping over and banking around to head toward the front of the ship-

-Right where Jormungandr was waiting, jaws open. He grabbed Eustace by the tail and pulled him underwater, the foaming waves obscuring our view. “Eustace!!” Lucy and Edmund screamed, rushing to the side and pulling out swords. Had I not grabbed their armor and yanked them back, I feared they may have gone over the side after their cousin.

Suddenly just to the side of the boat, Jormungandr appeared again, Eustace still held by the tail and looking far more battered than before, and he swung the dragon back and forth before throwing him hard against a rock outcrop. Everyone on the boat cringed, and I heard a faint but distinct _crack!_ as he impacted.

<Oooohhhh!> Eustace groaned, barely lifting himself up to face the serpent, who growled menacingly and hissed, <You’ll be the first one to die!> Jormungandr reared back again and struck at Eustace. At the same time, Eustace, Thorn, and Toothless opened fire on the demonic beast, lighting the skin almost immediately. The serpent creamed and thrashed back and forth, his head completely smothered in flames, before throwing himself backward and into the water, disappearing underneath the waves in an attempt to smother the flames. Luckily it takes some time to put Nadder fire out, even with water, and so Eustace had a moment to breathe. Unfortunately, his next worry came from the ship.

“Leave, demon!” I spun to see Lord Rhoop throwing the seventh sword directly toward Eustace, seeing him as yet another threat to us. “NO!” I screamed, and leapt for it. I missed, and the bladed cartwheeled through the air and sank directly into Eustace’s shoulder. <AAAHHH!!> he screamed, jerking and looking back at what pierced him. When he saw what it was, his eyes widened in realization, and he looked back at us; at me.

<Go,> I said, nodding, and threw out my hand, releasing a pulse of energy in his direction. It seeped into the wound, and I said, <Take the sword, and when you remove it, so your injuries will be as well.> He nodded and, groaning in immense pain, took to the air as best as he could, soaring up out of reach of the serpent below and the shadows around us, and away from the cursed island.

“Eustace, wait!” Susan yelled out. “No, he’s doing what he needs to!” I yelled. “He has the sword and knows where to take it. We just need to focus on getting this ship out of here!” Susan looked at me with full anger for a moment, before my words registered and she nodded, whirling around and heading toward the back of the boat, bow and arrow in hand. I turned, meanwhile, to scan the waves for the demon that had disappeared from our view below. We had drifted closer to the edge of the shadows, but were still a long way in, and between us and the open air I could see roiling water as the serpent’s coils appeared and headed back toward us.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter probably could have been merged with the end of the last, or beginning of the next...oh well. Short and (not so) sweet.


	19. To Battle Darkness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we are, the climax of the third book...one of the more fun chapters to write, and one of the ones at least that I consider to be decent within this story. Enjoy!

Eustace clumsily arced out of the darkness shrouding the island, and angled himself toward a nearby sandbar that rose above the wave. As he neared the spit of land the pain from his cracked ribs and the blade running through his shoulder caused him to seize up, his wings faltering and his form dropping out of the sky. The sand cushioned Eustace’s landing, but when falling from a couple hundred feet it made little difference. Eustace plowed through the sand, sending up showers of grit as he skidded to a halt, wings splayed out pitifully across the sand. <Ooooohhh, I hope Hawken knew what he was doing,> he groaned. <I hope _I_ know what I’m doing.>

He lay there for a few minutes, trying to regain at least the strength to sit up, and then he turned and, gingerly, grabbed the hilt of the sword.

<OW, Ow-owowowowowowowow!!!> The pain nearly made him let go, but Eustace knew nothing was going to get better if he didn’t get this over with, so he held tight, braced himself, and pulled.

The sword stuck for a moment, then slid out smoothly, and as soon as it was clear of the puncture Eustace felt a jolt of energy ripple through him, the stab wound closing up and his ribs cracking back into place and healing, eliminating the pain he had felt there. Eustace lay in shock for a minute, trying to wrap his head around what he’d just experienced, before shaking it off and focusing toward the island further across the ocean. If his cousins and, dare he admit it, his new friends, were to survive, he had to get the sword he now held in his claws (shockingly clean, he noticed, considering it had just been slicing through muscle and arteries) to the table they had been speaking of. He lifted himself back up onto his feet and, testing his replenished strength, pushed off of the sand and back into the air, hurtling toward Romandil. Unbeknownst to him, he wasn’t alone, being trailed by one of the many entities that had come to call the blackened island behind him home.

* * *

<This fight has only just begun; I am far from finished with you! Don’t plan on escaping this land, it won’t happen!>

Every draconic head cringed as Jormungandr screeched out the threat, leaping out of the water in great arcs as he hurtled toward the boat. I raced toward Caspian. “He’s coming back this way, if we want any chance we need to get into a more open”-

<Hah!>

My sentence was cut short as the serpent’s head left the water again and curved over the boat, coming down like an anvil and nearly crushing the railings, His body followed as he slithered over the ship, blocking the view of the stern. As Jormungandr came up again and wrapped around the boat a second time, Caspian and I were cut off from the bow as well.

<Going somewhere?> the serpent hissed almost gleefully, beginning to squeeze. I could hear the wood beginning to creak and snap from the strain, but it was a strong ship, and would hold for a short time.

<Hawken! Help!> I heard almost immediately afterward, and spun to see both Thorn and Meatlug trapped underneath Jormungandr’s coils. I grimaced and leapt upward, powering down with wide wings. <Hold on!> I yelled, and powered a wing beat downward, thrusting myself toward the bow. Hiccup was there with Toothless and the other Pevensies.

“See if you can distract Jormungandr and bring his focus to the front of the boat,” I ordered, and pointed behind the creature. A tall spit of rock jutted out sharply from the sea, and the bow was sharp and angled enough to do damage on a strong impact. “If we can get him in front of us, we can ram him! It should at least be enough to stun him and make him drop off the ship.” Edmund reacted first, climbing up toward the bow. Hiccup closed his eyes and grimaced, before they snapped open and he focused on the serpent, whistling to Toothless and pointing at the bow. They both rigged up completely and Toothless climbed up on top of the prow of the ship. I turned and motioned to Susan. “Come with me, you’ll get a better shot from the back.” She nodded, and as I changed fully to Night Fury she climbed on.

I set down next to Drinian, who brandished a sword and a furious look, shooting me an expression of slight apprehension. “Do I have orders here, or will we let this beast crush my boat to pieces?” he snapped. I pointed toward the rock outcrop. “We’ll ram the serpent. Focus the prow to that point a best as you can. He may be a lot of extra weight right now, but we have a couple of distractions and you should be able to still turn the boat.” He nodded, and I turned back to Susan as she climbed off.

“Just before we hit, try and get him somewhere in the head. It’ll busy him long enough to keep his neck right in front of the prow.” She nodded, and I leapt off the stern and glided back toward the middle of the ship. “Now, for my part.”

A Night Fury blast rang out, and I could hear Edmund yelling at Jormungandr at the top of his lungs, Hiccup joining in as well. Jormungandr’s reply was far darker and more sinister. <So, the two who called this form here think to jeer at me. How nice to serve yourselves up at easy reach.> I had landed on the deck again and couldn’t see what happened, but I could hear Toothless screech and Lucy scream, “Edmund!!”

I shot upward for a moment, just in time to see the serpent strike the very prow of the ship, ripping off the draconic head decoration that adorned the front. I nearly boiled over when I heard Edmund yelp in fear, but as I watched the snake throw the prow to the side, Edmund screamed out again, “I’m still here you pathetic worm!!” from within what was left of the prow, Toothless and Hiccup hovering above.

Slowly the ship lined up with the rocks, and as Hiccup, Toothless and Edmund kept the monster’s attention focused on him, I turned to see Susan nock her arrow and take aim. Taking that cue, I morphed Lightning Blazer, and waited for her to release the arrow. If I reacted too soon, I would cause Jormungandr to spasm and crack the ship instead of fall off.

The arrow was released, and flew straight through the air, sailing just barely past the mast and Toothless’ hovering wing, and drove deeply and directly into Jormungandr’s left eye. The wound began smoking with that unholy mist, and the serpent reared back in agony and rage, preparing to strike again. <You will DIE for that!!>

Instead, as he struck forward, his back collided with the rocks and the now even more jagged prow of the boat slammed into his neck. Toothless was smacked down by his head careening to the side, and Edmund came crashing down toward me I leapt up for a moment from my point and caught him, setting the boy safely down on the deck as I turned and aimed for the now loosened coils of Jormungandr. The boat began to drift back into slightly deeper waters from the impact and my opportunity opened, so I powered up and sent a crackling bolt of electricity straight into his side. The reaction of imitated flesh and conductive salt water with the bolt did the rest.

Jormungandr screamed and finally slid off the boat, jerking and convulsing in the water as the electric current ran its course through him. Everyone watched cautiously as the serpent writhed and squirmed in agony.

“Hawken, Caspian, look over there!!” Fishlegs yelled from where he knelt checking Meatlug. He was pointing at the water, in the direction of the main island. From the land came lines of sickly yellow-green light, pulsing their way toward the serpent. As they collided with him and raced up his neck, Jormungandr’s writhing slowed and stopped, and the light congregated around the gaping hole in his neck and the damaged eye left by our defense. Everyone began to back away as he took several deep breaths and rose up again out of the water, glaring from a distance for a moment.

I looked at my friends and yelled out, “In the air! Everyone get in the air now!!” the nodded, but froze before they could get moving as a hideous cackling noise sounded from the demon. We looked to see the serpent tower over us again, tongue flicking almost tauntingly.

<You are full of tricks, that much I will give you,> he jeered, <but I will also say that so am I.> From his neck a hood of skin flared out, supported by flattened bones that stuck through the sides and ended in sharp points, and similar spines jutted out down his back. The image of a skeletal worm crossed with a deformed cobra came to mind as I viewed the monstrosity before us.

“Oh, my God,” Hiccup whispered. I glanced at him, but didn’t have time to say anything before the serpent fixated on him and Toothless. “Look out!” I screamed, leaping forward and ramming into the pair, pushing them out of the way as Jormungandr struck downward, crashing into the now cleared deck. Astrid and Caspian took a chance, both leaping forward and each slicing down with the weapons in their hands. The blades cut through the tubercles that hung from the serpent’s jowls, severing a handful and making him scream again as he jerked back, the protrusions lying on the deck. As we watched for a mere moment, they slowly dissolved into the same smoke again.

I looked at Astrid. “We can beat this,” she said affirmatively. I nodded, and pointed to the dragons. “Get in the air and dive-bomb him,” I said. “I’ll attack from below.”

Without a word of explanation, I raced to the opposite side of the ship and leapt over, changing as I went. Underwater, the ocean around me formed whirlpools as I grew immensely in size. I was now larger than the boat as well, and had weapons to match: the Doomfang, able to travel in both water and air and a breather of ice. I didn’t have time to dwell over the details, the thoughts coming subconsciously to me as I shot under the boat and rammed as hard as I could into the underbelly of the sea serpent.

* * *

Eustace reached the island of Romandil and glided quickly over the beach that they had been anchored at the night before. Looking ahead toward the path the others had taken, he saw it wasn’t visible from above, and so landed, dashing into the undergrowth and running down the path as best as he could on three legs (after all, the fourth he held the sword in). As the arches and crumbling statues passed by, Eustace powered on, hoping he still had time before his friends met their own match. Unseen through the trees, however, the green cloud that signaled the demon began to build in size and snake through the brush in the dragon’s direction.

* * *

Jormungandr screamed as I threw him to the rocks behind with my impact, before twisting around to face me, baring curved fangs far longer than my own. <Always a complication,> he hissed in frustration. <So you’re the one they say is touched by God. You can’t even pull off something as strong as me to fight with!> he scoffed. I smiled as he reared back, two teeth elongating and hollowing out at the front of his mouth. <Well, it’s a good thing demons are so stupid then,> I drawled in a tone completely unfitting for the situation.

Jormungandr halted at my unexpected words. <What?> was all he got out before I struck, shooting the super-cooled liquid of the Doomfang straight into his nose and then down his neck. The ice formed and spread quickly, encircling the serpent’s body and racing down him along the rivulets of water dripping off. At the same time it froze the ocean in a massive block to the rocks nearby, setting the monster in place for at least a few moments. Once I finished the blast I dove down and away, coming back up closer to the ship and looking to the dragons that circled above us.

<Now!!> I yelled. Toothless reacted first, followed by the two Nightmares and then Stormfly, diving down and strafing Jormungandr with flames. Astrid and Thorn came in behind, the dragon flaming Jormungandr’s head and then releasing a round of quills into his side. Last of all, Barfbelch and the twins strafed the air, the cloud of gas exploding violently and drowning out the serpent’s rage.

Unfortunately, we quickly found out two important details: one, a Nadder’s spines are not sharp enough to have an effect on the serpent’s scales. Two, even a Doomfang’s ice weapon is susceptible to flames, so the heat weakened crystals and an enraged, thousand foot serpent made for a fast, violent destruction of the holdfast I’d constructed. Jormungandr burst out of the ice, diving underwater just long enough to douse the flames sticking to his armored head, and then he launched upward through the air, aiming for Hiccup and Toothless again. He missed and came down straight toward the ship below, and had he impacted the force would have snapped it in two. I leapt upward, my own weight enough to knock him away and into open water. Immediately the serpent turned on me, teeth bared, and struck. This time, he didn’t miss.

The fangs, though hindered by my own thick scales, sank into my side, and I could feel venom flow directly into my veins. I roared in pain, the chemical mix alighting my side with fiery agony, the very water around me jumping and rocks crumbling from the sound.

“Hawken!!” I heard from one of the riders above me. The noise drew Jormungandr’s attention again and he turned form me, thinking his battle with me over. I had no choice but to allow myself to begin sinking, as if helpless, toward the seafloor below. In order to remove the venom before it could take any real effect I needed my full concentration, placing a paw over the puncture marks and drawing the venom out as I healed the damage already done. Above the other dragons and riders drew the serpent away from the ship again, flashes of fire visible through the water as they fired over and over, and it gave enough time for me to pull the venom fully out of my system and heal the wound.

The toxin still swirled in a ball by my paw, held by the energy field that had pulled it from my blood, and a new idea came to me. Bending the field I stretched it out, then froze the venom with a concentrated blast of ice, a yellow-tinted spear. If I was lucky the serpent hadn’t thought to make himself immune to the venom, and with him distracted I had a chance to use it against its creator.

Swiftly and quietly as I could I rose up and exited the water, gliding above the scene with the toxic spear in my claws, and came up behind Jormungandr. As he struck out toward the figures I barely could make out as Cami and Stormfly in the gloom, I yelled out, <HEY, UGLY, you missed something!!>

The worm turned and spotted me in the air, and his jaws fell open. <How did-> was all he got out before I hurled the venom-sicle into his open mouth. The sharp point sank into the softer flesh of his throat and melted into his own blood, the wound and the fiery reaction causing him to scream again. As he did so, in a spasmic reaction he lashed out with the wide fin of his tail, spines extended fully.

Before I could react, the fin collided with Silverwings, who was gliding in for a shot behind. Silverwings tumbled through the air before finally righting himself, before jerking his head around in a panic. <Thuggory!> he screeched, and dove downward. I followed his path, and saw Thuggory tumbling, yelling his head off, toward the frothing waters. Before his dragon could reach him though, he hit and went under.

I dove down, parting the water in a spectacular splash, and raced toward the sinking Viking. Thanks to his helmet, sword, and even just the thin armor he wore he was being dragged down, unable to surface. I reached out to grab him, and something latched onto my tail. I turned to see Jormungandr holding me with his own tail, snaking forward to deliver a fatal bite. <You won’t reach him before he drowns,> he hissed. I jerked my tail, and found it unable to be removed from his grip, so I superheated my scales instead. The water boiled around the appendage and blisters appeared along Jormungandr’s skin, forcing him to let go, roaring in pain. As soon as he did, I down own toward Thuggory, who was starting to go limp from lack of air, and stretched my neck out as far as I could.

I opened my mouth and closed it around him, blowing out the water and replacing it with air, then spun and raced toward the ship. I felt Thuggory stir and then cough up a lungful of water, nearly making me gag (which would have been unpleasant for both of us), then gasp on the air he now had access to.

I burst out of the water, expecting Jormungandr to be there to attack, but saw Toothless raking him in flames and drawing his attention instead, giving me the chance to lean over the deck of the ship and drop Thuggory to the wooden boards, spitting out the water in my mouth and burning what was left, including the taste now left in my mouth.

“Do me a favor,” I groaned as Silverwings landed next to us, checking his rider over. “Take a bath a little more often.” Thuggory smiled weakly and coughed a little, before replied, “Well, thanks for saving my life, and I’ll think about it. But you should brush more often too.” I scoffed. “I brush every day!” Thuggory was about to reply, but both our focuses were turned as Jormungandr burst out of the water on the other side of the ship, burn marks healing across his face and the blisters on his skin fading. <I’ll shred you here and now!!> he screeched. I started to back away, readying a snarky comment about his temper and trying to figure out the next attack, when I heard-

“NOW!!”

Caspian yelled out the command and immediately half the crew on deck released harpoons in the direction of the serpent. Thinking fast I released a pulse of energy, honing in on the spear ends and sharpening the blades to a razor’s edge, sharp enough to have a chance at piercing the sea serpent’s hide.

They struck true, piercing the scales and driving in deep. Jormungandr screamed and thrashed, jerking the boat through the water but unable to wrench free. He was stuck fast, and a perfect target. Silverwings immediately reacted, taking out revenge for his rider and the bruises that crossed his sides as well, and fired at the demon. He aimed straight and true, and this time there was no diving under the water to escape the flames.

A split second before the inferno hit, Jormungandr’s eyes flashed green, like the light that had shone around his injuries earlier, and as the stream of fire hit, it went out, the fuel immediately de-combusting and falling harmlessly off his scales.

<You’re not the only one who can change, guardian,> he hissed. Irritation ran through me, and I dove under, latching onto his midsection and digging my claws in deep. I reared back and bit hard, fangs sinking in as I released a jet of ice at the same time, freezing the demon’s very flesh solid, the scales and muscle beneath beginning to crack as they crystallized. The serpent jerked involuntarily, and his tail whipped upward, drawing me out of the water and at the same time smashing straight through the mast.

* * *

Eustace ran through the forest, passing underneath the arches as quickly as he could. Ahead he spotted the table, laid out in pristine condition and…..bare? From what he’d heard before it was covered in food. Odd, as there was no way it should have been able to clear off that quickly. He shook off the thought, realizing it wasn’t important, and looked down at the other end of the table. The other six swords were still glowing bright blue, and as he neared he could see them and feel his begin vibrating as the energy locked in their structure fought to finally release.

Eustace burst into the clearing, slowing down as he actually reached the table. Now the swords were rattling in their sockets, and his sword began to glow. Lines of electric blue and silver began to snake their way from the blade toward the table, the rattling of the metal drowning out the other sounds the young dragon would have noticed otherwise: the small battle occurring not far from him on the island as the caretaker Lilianda went head on with spirits finally bold enough to set foot against her, and the rustling leaves as another raced toward him.

He looked around, starting to wonder if he was really the one who should do this; the whole situation made him almost too nervous to go through with it. But, if he didn’t, he realized, the only chance he had of returning to normal, and possibly the only chance of getting out alive would be lost, permanently. That thought drove him forward, raising up the sword to lay it in the final position. As he did, the demon made his move. The green cloud of tendrils surged outward, ensnaring Eustace and dragging him back toward the jungle behind.

* * *

<A spine! Shoot one of your spines!> I yelled at Thorn. <They don’t work, remember?> she yelled back. <No, down here!> Thorn just shrugged, before dropping down and whipping her tail, throwing one of her spikes in my direction. I grabbed it as it depth charged into the water, and brought it down to where I was attempting to cripple the monster. I focused on the spike, pouring power into it and electrifying the sharp object. Another pulse, and it lengthened, growing to five times the normal length. At this size it was more than enough to damage, and I drove it down, straight through Jormungandr’s tail and into the mud and rock below, pinning him in place. Now held in two locations, the serpent couldn’t go anywhere. However he still held a couple of tricks in his arsenal.

I rocketed up to find Jormungandr beginning to rip the ropes from the ship, and he managed to twist around just enough to glare at me. <Even if I go down, and I won’t lose this fight, there are always others,> he hissed. I ignored him and leapt into the air, transforming to an oversize Night Fury for agility. I came up next to Hiccup and Cami, in the center of the group.

“Now!” I yelled. “Give it everything!” We all spiraled downward, powered up, and fired point blank. A massive ball of flames coalesced and hurtled toward the serpent as we flew by. I turned to glance back, expecting his head to become engulfed in a massive explosion. Even if he managed to put out part of it, the force would be enough to damage. That wasn’t what happened.

Jormungandr’s head was engulfed, but the flames were swirling around him in an ominous ring instead of blowing apart. My heart immediately slowed to a halt.

“Down! Down! DOWN!!” I yelled. Everyone immediately dropped, skimming the surface of the water as a massive flash illuminated the area, followed by a shockwave and an incredibly loud explosion. The flame ring blasted outward, igniting the edges of the ship and knocking the slower dragons forward, sending them tumbling. Luckily no one fell off this time, but I still turned as the blazed rolled past, flaring my wings and shielding the other Vikings with them, before turning and jetting ice at the ship, dousing the flames before they could spread. Jormungandr grinned (as best as a sea serpent can), and wrenched his head to the side, hard and fast, ripping out and slicing through more of the ropes that held him to the ship. Then, something new caught both of our attentions.

“Over here you mutant parasite!” Edmund screamed, hanging off what was left of the rigging. Jormungandr rocketed forward and plowed through the flimsy ropes, cracking the already broken mast even more. Edmund dove to the side, landing hard on the deck, but it was enough for what he had intended. Reepicheep swung down on a rope still hanging, using the serpent’s new position to his advantage and gashing his eye again. Jormungandr jerked back and hissed in pain before trying again after the boy, but the move had given me a realization I should have had long before. I felt around my shoulders and, sure enough, the small elastic straps were still there. I had completely forgotten in the fray.

“My swords!” I blurted, before catching myself and glancing at Jormungandr, to see if he’d heard my exclamation. He hadn’t. I smiled and reached back, carefully grabbing one of the blades on my back and pulling it out and at the ready. Just as I’d done with Thorn’s tail-spike, I enlarged it, a 15 foot blade gleaming brightly in the eerie gloom. I spotted Hiccup and Toothless coming up on my right, who signaled for me to get ready. They had the same idea I did, as the pair dove down and swiped the serpent’s head, catching his attention and turning his focus away. I shot upward to gain momentum and then turned to one side and dove, flaring just enough as I passed Jormungandr to angle properly and swing my sword, slicing through a group of spines on his side and into the back of his neck. A familiar cloud of mist billowed out, but like the last time, a yellowish glow raced up through the water and engulfed the wound, sealing it almost immediately.

Jormungandr chuckled. <Now it’s my turn,> he hissed. With one heave, he jerked his tail upward, ripping it in the process as the spike was dug deep but nevertheless freeing himself from the seabed. Using the remaining harpoons in his side as leverage, he whipped his tail up and around, first catching Stormfly and Fireworm off guard, sending them and their riders to the ship’s deck, and then finishing by colliding the appendage with me, sending me spinning as stars burst in my vision.

My head cleared only in time for me to hit the water, watching as the demon lifted up his tail, long and sharp bony protrusions extending along its length, and brought it hard down toward the ship, aiming to cut it right in half. Still floundering in the water, I wasn’t going to be able to move in time to stop him either.

* * *

Eustace thrashed desperately in an attempt to escape the tightening coils, as whispering voices around him crept into his mind and attempted to force thoughts of despair, surrender and hopelessness into his head. But, the boy was always well known for being incredibly stubborn, so he struggled all the harder, and lashed out instinctively with the sword in his grip.

Reeling back with screams, the demons backed off temporarily as whatever catalyst the metal was infused with reacted with the mist, cutting it down like it wasn’t there and releasing Eustace. The sudden opening gave him enough time to dash for the table again and finally lay the seventh sword into its position. Now that it was there, Eustace didn’t wait around to see what would happen, instead taking off into the air and powering his way toward the boiling black eyesore of an island across the sea.

The swords, meanwhile, suddenly fell flat and still in the pattern on the table, completing a circuit and seeming to almost bond with the stone they lay upon. Blue and silver lines of electric power coursed through a geometric pattern of grooves between them, pulsing faster and faster and spilling one by one into the next ring of grooves toward the center of the pattern and the tips of the swords. Within a few seconds, the entire network was alight, and a beam of blinding, nearly pure white light rocketed upward, streaks of energy radiating out in every direction. The main beam, however, arced to the side and shot straight past Eustace, startling him, as it aimed for the heart of the black land ahead.

* * *

As Jormungandr’s tail came down, there was a sudden flash of light, and upon the boat a bluish glow began emanating. I saw Edmund’s sword light up, and felt the rivulets of energy coursing along the blade, along with those that Caspian and Peter held. They glanced at each other, and in unison leapt forward, swinging the weapons upward and driving them into the base of the demon’s tail.

Everything changed in that instant. Jormungandr had been screaming a lot in this fight as we attacked over and over, but this was entirely different, the cut of agony drowned out and raging despair as silvery ribbons of light ran from the blades in his tail up through his entire body, to his head, and then in a massive pulse beyond into the sea and the clouds of black that hung all around us. Everywhere it hit, a flash rippled outward and a new scream joined with the serpent’s, some new demonic entity materializing for the barest moment and then vanishing, leaving nothing but a fading, sinking fog behind.

Jormungandr’s time had now ended, and with a final shudder his form went still, and slowly careened backward and into the water, the massive figure dissolving slowly into nothing at all. And lastly, the black clouds that hung on the arches and spits of rock around us began to break apart, and light finally managed to pierce the air around us once more. The war was over. Almost.

The demon that had confronted me face-to-face throughout the voyage materialized before us, clawing at the air as if trying to hold onto the last vestiges it could of a physical form. “This isn’t over!” he screamed, aiming one finger at me. “They will find you, in the end, and you will pay for this!!” With one final scream of defiance to the world, he vanished completely, the scream echoing off the rocks as the clouds opened up fully, revealing the shoreline of the island and, floating anchored along it with dying streams of green light falling off them, a row of small boats with people huddled within them.


	20. Changes

“So they weren’t killed or anything, they were abducted to be used as hostages and an energy source,” Lucy surmised. “That’s about as sick as I could expect from pure evil.”

We had managed to pull the damaged ship over to the beach and began interacting with the people who we came to confirm were the ones who’d disappeared in the occurrences with the fog. Naturally they were apprehensive about us at first, but once they came to learn who we were, they became overjoyed at the thought that they’d finally be freed.

“So, is there any way we can help them?” Lucy asked. Caspian rubbed his chin and looked around at the island, now clear of the hideous fog it once was covered with. Nothing grew on it now due to the lack of light.

“Well, there’s no imminent danger here anymore,” Caspian replied, “so we can probably fix the ship on the beach, especially now with extra helping hands and anything we can use from the boats. Then we can sail home from there.” “Well, don’t forget the three lords on Romandil too,” Peter reminded. “They’re probably awake now and need a way to return home as well.”

Suddenly, a loud roar from above us drew our attention upward, to find Eustace gliding down toward the ship, flaring his wings and landing with a little more grace than he’d possessed before. Reepicheep scrambled down one of the few ropes still hanging on the mast and up to the young dragon, grinning wildly. “Eustace! You’re alright!” he exclaimed. Eustace nodded, chuckling a little, then looked at me.

<It worked,> he said. <The catalyst broke the curse once it was released.> I nodded. “Yes, the battle’s over. And, it wouldn’t have been broken had it not been for you taking it upon yourself to deliver the last piece.”

“Well, I see Eustace managed to come through unscathed as well,” I heard behind me amidst a new flapping of wings. I turned to see Thuggory and Silverwings landing on the ship as well. I smirked. “Well, not quite unscathed I’m afraid, “I said. “I can see it in your eyes Eustace. You had a battle of your own, didn’t you?”

Eustace nodded. <There… there was a demon waiting to ambush whoever it was that tried to bring the last sword back. Though, they didn’t factor in that the sword already had an effect on them when in proximity to the others.> I nodded, then gestured that he should follow me as I turned around and began walking. Out of curiosity, the others all followed behind as well. Toothless came up next to me and glanced between me and the young dragon. <So, are you going to undo the transformation now?> he whispered. I shrugged. <Maybe. But we have to see if he learned what I needed him to first.>

I stepped up to the broken prow of the ship, and turned to be eye to eye with Eustace. “I have something very important I need to ask you Eustace,” I began. “A few days ago I became fed up with the hassles you had been putting all of us through and I changed you into what you are now for a reason. I did so because I wanted you to learn a lesson, a few important things that you sorely lacked at the time. Now, I ask you, in this time you’ve spent as something other than yourself, what have you learned?”

At hearing this, Eustace visibly deflated from the reminder of his prior behavior, and he looked up at me apologetically. <I… guess I should just start off saying, Hawken, that I’m… I’m sorry. I managed to misjudge and take prejudices against everyone here, even my own family, thinking that I knew best and I knew what was right.> He snorted and looked around him. <I guess this is proper punishment for such airheaded arrogance. To tell you the truth I think I was a better dragon than I was a human, and I… I think I’ve realized the dragons have been better souls in the couple days I’ve known them than I’ve been my life so far. All I did, and they still didn’t retaliate when they had every right to, even when I could understand them they didn’t even lash back verbally. I wish I had realized this sooner though.>

For a moment no one said anything, save for Stormfly who was taking it upon herself to be translator, and everyone’s eye were glued to me to await a response. Finally, I let out a breath and turned to face away from everyone, hands clasped behind my back. “Eustace, you did learn a lot in what was a very short time. But, there was one thing that was missing from your response, another lesson I wanted taught.” As I turned around I watched the atmosphere tense up around everyone, as if they thought I’d just decided it wasn’t enough. I smiled slightly at the look on Eustace’s face too.

“However, I did not expect you to consciously realize you’d learned this lesson either, so I’ve watched to see instead if you had. You learned about the bond of friendship. You risked your own life in order to help your family and, if any of us can be called by it, friends. That was another extremely important point I intended to make.”

I turned and waved my hand toward the Vikings and their dragons. “For 300 years both humans and dragons fought tooth and claw against each other, the Vikings seeing their opponents as entities of evil, demons like those we fought today. The dragons were forced into the war themselves by the grip of a monstrosity like no other. Yet here they are before you, brothers and sisters together, fighting side by side.” I turned and looked Eustace straight in the eye, a dead serious expression on my face to emphasize my point. “Do you know what it took for all that to change?”

Eustace stood silent for a moment, knowing the answer but feeling awkward to just say it out loud. Finally he met my gaze again. <Friendship?> he asked. I nodded. “Yes. Friendship, and trust. Three years ago, what once was and still is the most feared dragon alive was brought down by none other than a village screw-up”- out of the corner of my eye I saw Hiccup wince at the memory “-and instead of acting like everyone else, they spared each other when they had the chance to kill, like anyone else would have. From that first contact, a bond formed. Across hatred, across species, looking past every single prejudice that either of them had ever grown up with, they managed to find the ability to trust each other not for what they thought they knew, but for what they found together.

“That pair managed to end a three century war, and brought peace to the entire region they lived in. Eustace, that pair was the boy you also saw as a failure when you first arrived here, and the dragon the Night Fury that you hurt through the eyes of hatred you hadn’t yet managed to look past.”

Eustace looked, shocked, at Hiccup and Toothless, along with all the crew who had yet to hear the story as well, as they both just nodded simply. <They…they did all that?> he asked quietly. I smiled. “Yes, just as you, in an act of selfless trust to not only me who you started out hating as well but all the crew on this ship, helped to end our battle today. Against all odds you also managed to find within yourself that same ability everyone has to put aside prejudices and find what really lay behind it all. And, I hope, you’ve found it within yourself to be able to call us by friend as well.” Eustace nodded in agreement, trying to hide the watery eyes he had but not quite managing. I smiled even wider. “Then you have learned.”

I stepped down from my makeshift pedestal and came closer to the young dragon. “By these words I say now to you,” I began, opening my palm and reaching up to place it on his forehead, “I return you to how you are meant to be. Your lesson is learned in heart, and by God’s power it will never leave again.” My hand began to glow soft lavender as I felt a stream of energy flow through me. Eustace closed his eyes, as if expecting the process to hurt, as the light of my hand increased in intensity. I focused a little more, and the power transferred from me to him. With a flash, tendrils of light raced from that spot all across his body, dissolving bit by bit scale and tooth, claw and wing. The light continued to intensify, and enveloped Eustace until all that could be seen of him was a dragon-shaped halo.

In a fraction of a second, the glowing figure spun like a vortex, drawing every last eye to it, and collapsed inward condensing down to a much smaller form before slowly fading out to reveal the clearly discombobulated but still standing figure of Eustace the boy.

Susan and Lucy both screamed and ran up to him, picking him up in a tight hug, and the three boys Edmund, Peter and Caspian waited for them to let him go before taking a slightly less touchy approach, walking up and patting him on the back. “You were a pretty good dragon,” Edmund said, ignoring the look his younger sister gave him, “but it’s still good to have you back as yourself again.” Eustace smiled faintly before he, Edmund and Peter also shared and embrace.

Once they let go of each other, all of them a little red from the public affection display, Eustace walked over to the dragons and the teens. “I have to get this over with now or I will be kicking myself later for not doing so,” he said. “I am truly sorry I acted the way I did toward all of you, especially the dragons.” The teens let out a number of various “hey, don’t worry about it”s and “apology accepted”s, before Eustace turned specifically to face Hiccup and Toothless.

“I’m especially sorry to both of you, as I greatly underestimated your worth. You are both far better than I am in so many ways, and I am glad to call you my friends, if you’ll accept that.” He smiled and held out his hand, which Hiccup took, and rubbed Toothless’ head, before glancing at the three female warriors. “And Astrid, Cami, Ruff? Remind me to never again say girls can’t fight.”

We all burst out laughing at that, and Eustace opened his mouth to continue before Stormfly came rocketing back down toward the ship, having taken off to get a look out around where we were now that everything was clear. Her scales were blushing bright gold in excitement.

“Hey guys, the clouds cleared up fully,” she exclaimed, “and I can see land on the horizon to the west!” “Land?” we all asked. “Yeah. Kind of odd looking, as it’s edged in white, but there’re mountains beyond and it looks to stretch on for a god ways.”

“Maybe it’s Aslan’s country!” Reepicheep suggested from where he’d perched on Eustace’s shoulder. The Vikings looked at me. “So, I know I heard that name before, but who is he?” Fishlegs asked. I shrugged. “Okay, so I guess not everything here has been explained just yet.” “Well, you can tell them on the way,” Caspian interrupted. “The crew here and the castaways are safe for now and should be able to hold things down here. We should go and take a look.” Lucy smiled and nodded from behind him, and spoke up, “Yes, we should, since he’s probably waiting for us there now.”

We arranged for everyone going to ride on the dragons, with the Vikings of course with their respective mounts and Lucy with Astrid, Susan with Cami Peter with Snotlout, Edmund with Thuggory, and Caspian with Hiccup. Eustace and Reepicheep both rode on my back after I switched to Wind Fury, and we all took off.

As we headed toward the line on the horizon, Tuffnut spoke up again. “So, no one answered Fish’s question earlier, so: can someone actually tell us who Aslan is?” Lucy giggled and answered first. “He’s a lion, the one who protects Narnia and the adjacent lands. He rarely comes to visit or interfere directly, but when needed we’ve often had him show up to help in the blink of an eye.”

“He’s saved my life one more than one occasion,” Caspian added. “So, Aslan is like one of the other talking animals?” Thuggory asked, before shrinking away from the glared Reepicheep shot him. “He’s a lot more than that,” Reep answered him. “He’s a guardian, like Hawken is.”

* * *

We rode on in silence for a time until we neared the shoreline. Below, explaining the odd white edging Stormfly had described, was some sort of pure white water lily growing across a massive expanse of the water. Not what you’d expect to find in a saltwater environment, and one more question I had that would go unanswered. The shore itself was a wide swath of pure crystalline sand, and a great length of it was separated from the forest beyond it by what appeared from a distance to be a shimmering blue wall. As we dove down to land, it quickly became clear that it was not a wall, not really. It was a sheet of water, pouring down like a massive fountain across a backing of translucent crystal, and creating a beautiful but off-putting barrier between the beach and the forest. Beyond all that, in the distance, was a range of low mountains, making the land look, save for the water wall, very familiar.

We landed and everyone hopped off their dragons, and once Eustace and Reep left my back I morphed to normal and re-secured my swords. We looked around, but saw nothing else along the beach. Everything was just pure white sand fronted by water.

“Kind of eerie here,” Astrid commented. “I can’t hear a thing besides the waterfall thing here.” Susan nodded as she glanced up at the odd structure. “I’m as surprised as you. Usually we’d have some sign of either where we’d need to go, or of Aslan himself by now.” “Well, maybe this just isn’t the right place,” Hiccup offered. “Let’s see if there’s somewhere along this water wall that we can get through and into the forest. Maybe there’s a clue there, and I get the odd feeling we aren’t just supposed to fly over.”

Everyone agreed (and some of us voiced the same feeling that Hiccup was getting), and we began walking across the width of the beach, which was quite expansive from the ocean’s edge to the water structure. I lagged behind a little, feeling like there was something just out of place, but shook it off and kept following the rest.

The feeling didn’t abate. As I walked, I also gained the new sense that something was watching us. I slowed again, and just as the first of the group reached the fountain, a shadow caught my eye. There was something behind us now, following us, and bigger than a man. I slowly stopped, grabbed the hilt of my team sword, and pulled it out, spinning around to aim the tip of the blade at whatever it was.

“Oh! Uh, hi. Um, sorry about the rude entrance and the, uh, sword, thing.” “Don’t worry yourself, Hawken,” he said, chuckling. “It’s perfectly understandable in this place.”


	21. Final Surprises, Final Farewells

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And finally, the most pivotal character in the Narnia series makes his official entrance. Naturally, he's a little different from the original so to make everything fit into Hiccup's world as needed, but...well, read on. And do forgive the awkward writing parts :)

There was nothing physical about him that could impress a boy who could turn dragon, but one look into the gentle-yet-powerful golden eyes he possessed, and there was no doubt the creature before me knew far more than his appearance would ever let on.

“Aslan!” Lucy screamed, running past me and basically tackling the lion, hugging him tightly as he laughed at the reception, followed soon by Susan. Peter, Edmund and Caspian had slightly less energetic reactions, stepping forward and bowing respectfully. “It’s a relief to see you again,” Edmund said. “As well it is you,” Aslan replied, still chuckling. “You have been very strong to have made it all the way here, and through all you did.”

“Well, we probably wouldn’t have if we hadn’t had a little help,” Caspian said with a smile, gesturing to me and the rest of the Vikings and dragons.

“Oh, your Majesty!” I heard from down by my feet. I looked down to see Reepicheep come forward and take off the feather ring he wore on his head in a bow. “Tell me, are we to be honored by standing at the edge of your country?” Aslan smiled. “I know the legends that are told of me in Narnia, but no. I do not have a country, besides those that I protect. This land is one yet undiscovered by most of the world.” He looked up at me. “Though you might well recognize it, Hawken.”

I blinked, before chuckling myself. “Well, looks like we finally discovered North America,” I muttered lightheartedly. By now the Vikings and their dragons had gathered up behind me, drawn over by the curious sight of our conversing with the lion. Aslan looked at them and smiled.

“Welcome, friends,” he said. “You have been through a great deal, and I can see you are all stronger for it. It seems I nudged you in the right direction when you came for a visit.”

My eyes widened. “So that _was_ you back in the forest,” I noted. Aslan nodded. “Indeed. Even the overseers and guardians need a push occasionally.”

“So, who are you, exactly?” Ruffnut asked bluntly. Still, it was clear that was a question on the minds of everyone behind me. Aslan chuckled again. “Like your friend here, I am more than I appear. I am Aslan the lion, at least most of the time. I, like your friend Hawken, am a guardian, one of the protectors of Narnia, the ocean and its lands across to here, and the eastern continent upon which we stand. And, as a guardian, I wish to speak with you for a moment, Hawken, alone,” he intoned, looking back toward me.

Trusting that my friends would be safe on the beach for now, I nodded, and followed the lion along the sands a ways, before he turned to the “water wall” and raised his paw up to it. As soon as he did so the water rippled outward violently and the falls split, producing an opening wide enough for us to pass through a crystalline tunnel and into the forest behind. Aslan continued on, me following quietly behind, until we reached a small clearing, ringed by ancient trees and decorated with nothing more than a couple rocks high enough to serve as a seat. I sat down carefully as the lion set himself down just across the clearing, facing me.

“Word often spreads quickly when things happen between the gifted of this world,” he began, lazily swishing his tail back and forth. “It was barely more than a year ago when I first received news that the Mystique had reached the point where she was ready to pass on her burden.” He looked up at the sky, clear blue and warm above. “One year, and yet you’ve already managed to unlock secrets that took her decades, finding your ability to wield certain physical elements outside the realm of what most would ever deem normal. You have thwarted attacks, demonic or worldly, at least five times already with the help of your friends, and yet you’re barely of age.” Aslan looked directly at me, a warm smile on his face. “You are a special one, Hawken, even as those of us they call guardians go, as are the friends human and otherwise that surround you.”

His speech, short as it was, came as revelation enough to keep me silent for more than a moment before I finally ventured for some clarification. “By that, what exactly do you mean?” I asked. Aslan chuckled. “Hawken, I have been a protector of this place for many, many years. I gave the animals of Narnia the ability to speak like I do through loneliness once long ago, I have battled evil many times, ventured even around the world to meet others like us and explore to learn more. Through all these events, both those that I would consider mistakes and those I would consider destined, I have learned a great deal. Centuries of knowledge and the experience to turn it to wisdom mean I can see many things coming before they happen and I am in tune to the very rhythm of the world more than most, but even that does not mean I can decipher everything I see, hear, or am given.

“Your friend Hiccup ended a catastrophic war between the humans and dragons of the northern regions, and together you have all gone far to quell the final flames of that violence. Camicazi rides one of the few dragons outside of the Shadowracers who can speak the common tongue, and hers won’t be the last of your group to do so. The others have their gifts, found already or that will be brought to their attention in due time, and while they may not have had the accomplishments you and Hiccup achieved behind them, altogether you have the attributes of solidifying a team like no other.”

Aslan quieted for a moment as he stood up again, and turned to a tree with a large hollow carved inside it, walking over and peering inside. “Some of those that the people of this world call guardians or protectors are granted nothing more than impossibly long lives to gain wisdom. Many others have been given gifts, great power, like those Coriakin and Lilianda wield. Then, there are the rare few like myself who were given both in some form.”

He reached carefully into the hollow of the tree and extracted something with his paw, but I could not see it as he stayed turned away from me. “I don’t know what your destiny in such terms will be yet, whether you were simply given abilities or more than that, as only God truly knows the ends of each of our fates, but what I have heard and seen of you yet is good.”

I sighed. “So, was this meeting just to tell me I may have a long future, I have great power, use it wisely? Granted some of what you’ve just told me answers a lot of questions, but a lot of this I already came to figure out.” Aslan laughed and finally turned back to me, something catching the sunlight in his grip. “Well I can’t say you’re not direct. Yes, there is something else, something to strengthen the team you are now stuck with, like it or not.” He walked across the grass to me and held out the object in his paw. “This was given to me nearly a millennium ago by good friends in order to keep it safe until they or I found the right person to wield it. I know about the stories you have read back where you come from, and in one of them was a great power one of your close friends holds. I’m sure you will know who this now belongs to.”

My eyes felt like they were ready to leave my head when I took in the sight of what the lion held in his paw. Sure enough, I did know exactly what it was, and who it was for. Lying in Aslan’s grip was a bow, colored as if it were made of gold but clearly far more precious, and a tight, unbreakable string to match. The object seemed to almost glow with a hidden power, and around the bow itself were etched lines of writing I couldn’t read yet, but unmistakably an old Hebraic form, the only thing that really differed from what I’d read.

Aslan dropped it gently onto my lap. “But… this… this is impossible!” I stuttered. “This looks exactly like Framherja, but”- “It is,” Aslan interrupted, ending my babbling, “and the story behind it is not terribly different from the one you are familiar with. Forged using the same technique Mjollnir was crafted from, by guardians that have become lost to the realm of myths. When they made their weapons, they instilled a unique property to them designed to allow only one person to use them. Though you, Astrid and Toothless can hold it safely, only Hiccup can use it.”

I shook my head in disbelief. “Mjollnir is Norse mythology, its wielder a Norse god. The names are rooted in the old Nordic languages, this shouldn’t exist.” Aslan smiled. “To the simpler minds of the world, especially when spoken of through corrupted stories and great periods of time, you and I would be called gods because of what we can do. As we both know that’s not the case by a long shot as there is only one God, but a great deal can happen to distort the truth.” He nodded to the bow I now carefully picked up. “The wielder of the hammer of those legends was no more than another gifted individual among a family of gifted people, a long time ago, but their story was taken by the more easily swayed and twisted far beyond reality.”

He turned his head and looked back in the direction we had come from. “It’s your decision as to when Hiccup is ready to take on this new responsibility, but I was told he should be the one to figure out how to use it. In the meantime, it is quite near to when you and your friends are to go the way you now must: home.”

Needless to say I had plenty of questions arising in my mind, and I sat there trying to process what just happened for a little while longer before I came to my senses. Then, I gingerly picked up the otherworldly looking weapon and followed the other guardian, tucking Framherja out of sight for the time being. As I stood up, though, I realized I had a couple more questions I needed answered.

“Wait, before we go, I need to ask something,” I began. Aslan turned to me expectantly. “So, first, I heard that the Pevensies have been here before, and a long time before now. Why is that?” “Time does not flow at the same rate everywhere,” he answered. “You know that even dependent on the speed at which you go time changes. The same goes for many of the worlds out there. Yours and this one have been in line as long as time has been, but theirs is only now beginning to synchronize with ours.” I nodded. “Okay, makes some sense. And secondly, why is it that, well, guardians like you and me exist in this world, but not mine, or theirs?” “Who says they do not exist there?”

That chilled me for some reason. “The powers of this world have stayed more out in the open is all it is,” Aslan continued. “The path we took has become rather grandly different from those of places like your home, though the general storyline still remains true, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t others there, who may stay hidden away for reasons unknown. You are the first guardian here in a very long time that has come from another planet, another world, so it may well be that there will be a balancing of the equation again soon. Because of that I suspect you will also be a great target by those who wish to keep such things hidden away. Take care in where you walk.”

He didn’t venture any more explanation, and after that last bit I wasn’t sure I wanted any, so instead I again quietly followed him back out of the forest and through the water wall, meeting up once more with my friends again. I avoided looking at Hiccup, thinking I didn’t want to present the bow in front of everyone right away and not wanting to let on I had something new. However, everyone else was more focused on the Pevensies, who appeared to be expecting something to happen.

“I’m guessing it’s time we headed home again as well, isn’t it?” Lucy asked. Aslan nodded. “I’m afraid so. Your job here is done today, and it’s time you returned to your families.” “Will we come back?” Eustace asked, looking down at Reepicheep sadly. Aslan laughed gently. “The future is not known to anyone here, but we may yet have need of you again.”

Reep looked up at Eustace, and grasped the boy’s hand in his small paw. “Don’t worry, you’ll come back some day,” he reassured. “I can feel it.” Eustace shook his head slowly. “But what if you’re not here anymore? I may not ever see any of you again.” Reep smiled, trying to hide the tears that statement brought to not only his but everyone’s eyes. “What a surprising puzzle you are, my friend.” He pulled on Eustace’s hand, and the boy kneeled down. “I’ll see you again, I’m sure of it.”

The boy nodded, and slowly stood up, only to be replaced by Lucy. “Can I, just this once?” she asked shyly. Reepicheep sighed. “Well, I guess it would be alright, but just this once-OOF!” He squeaked as Lucy picked him up and hugged him tightly. After a couple seconds, he relaxed and hugged her back, and then Lucy put him down and stood up with the rest of her family again.

All five of them then looked over at us, the Vikings and dragons. “We are often brought here if Narnia is in need of our help, but should you ever require another helping hand, we will find a way,” Peter said. I smiled, before a slight chill ran down my spine. “I have a feeling we might too,” I whispered quietly, before straightening again and smiling. “Be safe, my friends.”

Aslan turned toward the water wall, pulled in a breath, and roared. Visible only to my eyes, faint ripples of energy raced outward and struck the water, the liquid flashing the spectrum of light before rippling as well and collapsing in on itself in a vortex, a once flat surface with hard crystal behind it drawing inward and lighting up in the very center, until the swirling water stretched out into a tunnel large enough to walk through. We slowly waved goodbye as Eustace and his cousins all stepped, one by one, into the passage, and as if on a silent cue, the water collapsed inward again and closed off the tunnel, a bright flash appearing before everything returned to normal, and the five were gone.

Now, we all looked to Reepicheep and Caspian. “I believe it’s time we headed back home as well,” I said, the teens nodding in agreement next to me. Caspian stepped forward and shook my hand. “I wish you luck then,” he said, “in returning home and in any of your future adventures. I am honored to call all of you my friends.” His smile grew larger as he looked at each of us. “All of you. I hope we meet again one day.” “As do I,” Hiccup said, everyone laughing in agreement this time. Caspian stepped back and nodded to us as the Vikings mounted on their dragons again and I morphed to Night Fury. “Farewell all of you, and may God be with you as you return home.”

We all turned, and as the three Narnians waved us off one last time took to the air, soaring up high above the sand and waves. Suddenly, it hit me that Reep and Caspian didn’t have a way back to the ship, as they’d ridden the dragons here. But when I turned back to look, they were already gone. I hovered for a moment, somewhat lost, before I was snapped out of it by Toothless’ irritated, <What did you forget this time?> I smiled and shook my head. <Oh, nothing, just thought something was out of place.>

I caught up with them again and, following both instinct and the landmarks around us, we slowly made our way northward again. Behind us, North America disappeared on the horizon, and we soared onward across the ocean, carrying on all the way about the adventure we had just undertaken, and whether or not all of it was actually real. However, by the time we landed for the night on a small island to make camp, not a one of us doubted: our adventure had been as real as every other, and somehow we all agreed it felt like it was only the beginning. I sat off to the side for the night, smiling as I thought about how little the others knew, just how right they were. As the darkness fell, though, one by one we managed to push our thoughts to the side, saving them all to be worried about at a later date. For the moment, all we really needed was a good night’s sleep.


	22. We're Back!

Three days. Surprisingly that was all it took to return to Berk. The second day found us high above the northernmost strip of the land we’d come to know as Narnia, and though it was still further south than the rest of the northern lands we were used to, the mountains below were covered in ice and snow, and the air we flew through had even the Vikings bundling up with their thicker clothes. At one point I was even tempted to grab the oversize fleece in my backpack, but decided against it and raised my body temperature. It wasn’t long, in any case, before we were past the cold air of those northern mountains, and behind us the towering cliffs of eastern Narnia faded from view.

Evening came quickly, almost too quickly, and as the sun set fire to the ocean below we managed to reach the southern edge of Iceland, and landed to bunk down for the night. Once we were all set up and everyone was busy gathering around the fire we’d started, I decided now was as good a time as any to reveal my new hidden cargo to Hiccup. He was ready, I thought, and with what we went through you never knew what might pop up next. I walked up next to him and tapped him on the shoulder, nodding for him and then Toothless to follow me, and after a brief argument with Astrid and Cami as to why they couldn’t tag along, we set off into the thick nearby forest alone.

“So, why exactly are we out here, following you in a strangely cryptic silence?” Hiccup asked eventually as we began to slow. Toothless didn’t bother with a follow-up question, especially since I could bet he felt the slight field of energy given off by the hidden weapon in my pack. I looked around and decided we were far enough away, and would hear any eavesdroppers long before they reached us, and stopped, turning to the two.

“When I followed Aslan,” I began, “he brought a number of things to light that I had questions about: one of the reasons I can do what I can, why I have such a responsibility, and so on. But what he intended wasn’t all about me. It was about all of us.” I sighed and looked plainly at him. “To say it simply, we’re all stuck together, this little team we’re a part of camped out nearby.” <Meaning?> Toothless inquired. I smiled distantly. “Meaning whether we like it or not, our futures are intertwined from here on out. You and me, Hiccup, whether or not you want to admit it, are leading this ragtag bunch, and we’re leading what could very well end up being a small but formidable force.” “You really want to include Snotlout and the twins in that?” Hiccup asked, a smile playing on his lips as Toothless snorted behind him, trying not to laugh.

“Yes,” I said simply, ignoring the remark, “and,” I continued quietly, pulling off my pack (taking care not to tangle the straps with my swords) and reaching in, “that means I wasn’t the only one God decided to gift. There may be a lot of guardians on this earth already, but there’s still a select few others being paid attention to.” I could see Hiccup tensing up in expectation of a big surprise, as I pulled the still concealed weapon from the pack.

“I’m one of them, aren’t I?” he asked. I nodded. “You, Toothless, and really everyone here. But right now apparently especially you and Toothless to an extent. Partly because of the fact that you’ve done so much in your life already, you were selected to receive a gift, a power of your own. And this,” I announced, whisking away the cloth I held over Framherja, “is it.”

There was dead silence for a moment as I held out the golden bow, and both boy and dragon just stared at it. Finally, Hiccup shook his head and asked, “W-what is that?” “This is Framherja,” I answered. “She is a very specially made weapon, to be wielded only by you.” He raised an eyebrow, and slowly took hold of his new weapon. “I-I can feel, like, electricity running through it.” He looked at me. “What is this thing made of?” I smiled cryptically. “The same as a very famous hammer, and the touch of a guardian, someone I think you might be a little familiar with.”

Hiccup’s eyes widened even further. “You mean…?” he began, but couldn’t finish. I shrugged sort of nonchalantly. “I’m not fully certain. All I know is that you are the one Aslan chose to be the wielder of Framherja, and only four people can even handle her. Me and you, obviously, Toothless, and Astrid. However, it’s your responsibility to figure out how to use the bow. And it’s also your responsibility to make sure she is used responsibly.”

Hiccup looked the unique bow over, then glanced at me again. “Two questions: what happens if she’s not used properly, and do you know what she is able to use as ammo? I have a feeling a bow like this isn’t just going to shoot wood.” I smiled cryptically again. “I don’t really know for your first question. For your second, again you have to find out how to use her, whether or not I know what she uses to fire.” He nodded. “What about if someone else tries to use her?” I laughed. “I’m sure we’ll find out at some point, and don’t tell the other teens, since I kind of want to see. But Framherja is yours to keep, and use, wisely.” I turned and looked back toward camp. “Come on, the rest are going to start wondering where we went off to.” “Like they aren’t already?” Hiccup snarked.

I turned and started walking toward our makeshift camp. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Hiccup share a look with Toothless, before carefully hiding the bow inside his vest where it just barely fit. Then the two jogged to catch up with me.

We reached camp to naturally find everyone else still sitting around the fire, roasting the fish Thuggory and Silverwings had been sent out to catch and trying to ignore the twins wrestling in the dirt nearby again. As we entered the clearing, all the dragons immediately looked at Hiccup, picking up on the faint vibes of the weapon. Unlike me, Hiccup couldn’t throw out interference just being himself to mask the weapon. “Something wrong with him?” Stormfly asked, drawing the attention then of everyone. “No, no, I’m uh, I’m just fine,” Hiccup said, faking a big yawn. “I’m just a little, uh, tired. I’m probably going to head off to bed now.” Stormfly raised an eyebrow. “Then why”-

<Now’s not the time, Stormfly,> Toothless and I both said simultaneously. Stormfly stopped, flashed slightly red in surprise, then laid back down grumbling. <Oh, fine, I get it. Something we don’t need to know. I understand,> she muttered. I sighed and rubbed my forehead. “This is going to be a long night.”

* * *

Noon next day found everyone above the ocean again, flying toward a group of distant islands to the northeast. The largest on the southern end looked familiar, wide with massive mountains jutting up from one side. “There’s Berk!” Camicazi yelled. “We should be there in about an hour!” There were cheers from the others and the dragons, and as they celebrated, Toothless and Hiccup glided up next to me. “How do you think everyone will react, us just showing up randomly a month after we left?” I smiled. “Oh, we’ll get thousands of questions and requests for our tales from afar. The usual really.” He sighed as I laughed, and they glided back into their position.

As predicted, almost an hour later we reached visual distance from Berk. I looked down at the village, and saw people starting to swarm out of their houses and point up at us. Everyone was filing out of their houses it seemed as we neared, but still the one door I didn’t see open was the chief’s. It had me worrying, but then from the back of Hiccup’s house came a flurry of greenish wings and tail. It didn’t take long to recognize who it was either.

<Hawken! Toothless! You’re back!> he yelled out. <Spitfire! Good to see you too!> I called back. It was the Changewing I had helped rescue from a fort on the mainland nearly 2 months before.

<We were beginning to worry that you wouldn’t return,> Spitfire said, and then looked behind him. At that point I finally noticed Stoick riding Spitfire, eyes full of apprehension (probably of flying a dragon he didn’t know well) and relief. “Hiccup! You’re alright!” he yelled out, and then laughed. “We were beginning to worry! It’s been nearly a month!” “We almost didn’t make it,” Hiccup admitted. Stoick’s laughing died down at hearing that. “What did you-wait, no, save it for tonight. First, to the village!”

We followed Stoick and Spitfire down to the village, and landed in the square. Immediately the entire village swarmed around us, pestering us with questions. Stoick held up his hands. “People, please!” he yelled. “They’ve only just gotten back, give them some space, and we’ll all hear what happened later!” He glanced at us and gave a wink as he jumped off the Changewing. We all sighed in relief and automatically headed for Hiccup’s house to get refreshed and relaxed.

* * *

“It feels soooo good to be back,” Ruffnut drawled. Tuffnut nodded in agreement. “That was a long trip. Hey, where’d Hiccup and Astrid go?” he asked, looking around. Sure enough, the couple was nowhere to be seen. I got up and looked upstairs into Hiccup’s room, but they weren’t there either.

“I think I know where they went,” I said as I came back down. “You guys stay here, I’ll send them back eventually.” I took that as my excuse to escape for the day, and bolted straight to the cove. Just as I suspected, I found the pair and their two dragons down below, and I landed nearby.

“You realize they’re all wondering where you disappeared to, right?” I asked. Hiccup nodded, before shrugging. “We need some time alone before the big storytelling tonight. Plus,” he added, taking his hands from behind his back, “I had to tell Astrid about this without the others being around for now.” He held up Framherja, and I could tell by Astrid’s look Hiccup had already shown her.

“You realize what this means for us, right Hawken?” Astrid asked. I held up my hands. “Wasn’t my decision, I was just the messenger, even if I think all of us would have ended up sticking together anyway. However, I’m thinking you’d better learn how to use that bow, Hiccup, because I have a feeling our adventures definitely aren’t over.”

Hiccup nodded and looked at the weapon in his hands, before hanging it over his shoulder. “We’re going to stay here for a bit, then head back to the village,” he said. “Are you going to join us?” I shook my head and gestured upward to the cove’s rim. “Nah. It’s been just about a month since we left, so I have a feeling I’m going to be roasted when I head home. I might as well get that over with.” I looked around, then back at the group. “I will be back later, probably a few days though, alright?” They nodded, and then waved me off as I flew up to the portal. Turning back one last time, I waved back before stepping into my reality once more.

* * *

My return was exactly as expected, first getting swarmed by my sister and then my parents, who demanded I fill them in on what happened. Like when I first came back from Berk over a year before, they were speechless after my couple-hour long story. Eventually, however, things wound down and we set down together for something truly normal: family dinner.

“We got a call from your boss a few days ago,” my dad informed me, “wanting to know if you’d be back soon and needing more plants to sell, so you’re going to have to head down there soon to figure things out.” “Yeah, I know, but I need at least a day to recuperate,” I replied, swallowing a mouthful of mashed potatoes.

“And,” my mother added, “you do remember, I hope, that college starts in about a week.”

I groaned as my head hit the table.

* * *

_5 Months Later…._

He didn’t have to look up to know there was someone, or something, standing in his cell.

“What do you want?” he hissed. Whoever it was didn’t answer immediately, and the man looked up slowly. It appeared human, but something surrounding the being seemed off, a darkness that pervaded the space that couldn’t be seen, but felt.

“I am here on behalf of my master, who has a proposition for you,” the being in black robes said quietly. The prisoner tilted his head. “And what would that be?” “You know of the boy who wields the powers of dragons, and who holds his fingers on the secrets of the world. He is a threat to the plans of my master, and you are one of the few who has come against him and has not changed heart.”

The man looked up at the robed figure again. “And that means what? I lost my gamble with that boy. No one is a real match for him, not without finding whatever secrets hide his power. And I have no way out of this cell, however much I would wish to pay him back.”

“If you are willing, my master can give you a power to rival that of the boy’s,” the figure hissed. “You would be given the world, so long as you rid us of that boy and bring everyone else to us.”

The prisoner sat there, thinking over this idea. There really wasn’t much he had to lose, and he had lost faith in anything else long ago. He smiled slightly.

“Do we have a deal?” the figure in black asked, holding out a gnarled hand. John Malin smiled wider and took it. He was about to find out he’d truly made a deal with the devil, but he didn’t care. He had the opportunity he’d been hoping for, and now he would take it: bring down the one who ruined him, and everything that he stood for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so, Book 3 comes to an end (with the first of many returning faces from the earlier books). At this point, as one might be able to gather, I finally had a real plan forming for what I thought would be the rest of the series, the next 3 books (turns out there was one more beyond that needing telling, but more on that down the line). And if you've read or skimmed through this far, rejoice! There are awkward parts still to come, but this was the point I think I began to grow out of the more inexperienced early stage of my writing and began to build the characters and stories better, as well as simply write better. So, if you're willing, tag along for the next installment, Time's Revelation!


End file.
